


Just a small stroll in the woods

by Teacher_K



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Injury, Injury Recovery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-11
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:34:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 31,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24122935
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Teacher_K/pseuds/Teacher_K
Summary: What happens when bickering among travel companions sends one of their own off to gather supplies unaccompanied?
Comments: 1
Kudos: 13





	1. Looking for supplies

While I have long written for Classic Voltron from the 80s, the new characters kept bugging me until I gave-in to tell this tale.  
Enjoy!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Keith smiled as he listened to the bickering from the campsite. He congratulated himself for volunteering to look for and gather some of the plants and herbs Coran had approved for Altean consumption. He did not guarantee it safe for humans, but Pidge would run a quick diagnostic on whatever Keith managed to retrieve for confirmation.

Moving slowly in the dense undergrowth, Keith tested the footholds before moving forward. Coran had mentioned a burrowing animal on the planet destabilizing the surface. Taking another cautious step forward, he shifted his weight only to hear a crack as the dense foliage gave way. Keith let out a small yelp a vine twisted around his leg and he found himself falling headfirst. As he tried to flip to avoid a head down landing, the vine tightened sending the young pilot slamming into the side of the hole, directly onto a sharp protuberance. Keith only had a moment to feel the object impact his armor, crumpling under the force of the blow and a sharp sudden pain in his side before his head hit the side of the hole and blackness swallowed his consciousness.  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

“That is enough! I have had it with this bickering. Keith had the right idea in leaving to hunt down food stuffs. “You three have not stopped for the last varga, and it needs to cease!” Allura stood with her arms crossed, glaring at Romelle, Lance, and Pidge as they froze mid-sentence in their latest argument. “In fact, for the last Pheob the three of you cannot seem to go a dobash without one of you starting a fight. In the Lions, over the coms, on planets, and everywhere in between. So. You three are going to travel in the Green lion until you figure out how to get along.”

“But, Allura we are just. . .” started Pidge.

“Did I not make myself clear?” Allura interrupted, tapping her foot.

“But who will fly. . . “ began Lance.

“I am sure Krolia or Shiro is more than capable of flying Red. Blue indicates Red also feels heartily tied of the bickering and would like some resolution. If not, Shiro can temporarily fly Black and Keith can move back to Red.”

The three young people looked back and forth amongst themselves, embarrassment, and resentment clear on their faces. Coran held back a smile behind his hand as he twirled his moustache. He understood the bickering arose from the tension of the situation. They had heard no communications from the Alliance, the castle gone, the Lions struggling to recharge without the assistance of the Balmera Crystal of the castle, and a long journey in ships not designed for multiple people. Even with the modifications and shuffling of people between Lions, the young people did not have enough of an outlet. Perhaps he should gently nudge young Keith into encouraging some more discipline and routine. They needed more physical activity and mental breaks as well. As Allura continued lecturing, Coran watched as Krolia stalked off into the forest with Kosmo at her side. Shiro hovered in the background, a smirk well-hidden as he leaned against a tree.

With the three children temporarily sulking as Allura continued her tirade, er, helpful lecture, Coran strode to the Black Lion, ready to do a diagnostic while they stayed on this planet several days letting the lions recharge. As he approached, the Black Lion let out a low growling noise and turned his head toward the forest. The vocalizations sounded worried, and Coran paused, looking at the time. No one had heard from the Black Paladin in Vargas. “That Boy,” muttered Coran. “Probably stopped to take a nap like a Niflunk.” Coran tapped his communicator and tried to reach out to Keith. “Coran to Number 4. Please update your position and success of your mission.” For the next several dobashes, Coran tried to reach the Black Paladin. He cleared his throat, “Allura. We might have a small problem.”  
Allura immediately paused in the fourth repetition of her lecture. “What is it Coran?”

“Has anyone heard from Number 4 in the last few vargas? He did not respond to my inquiries.”

Allura turned to look at the other paladins and Romelle. All four shook their heads in response. 

Coran nodded and hailed Krolia, informing her of the situation. She acknowledged and let the remainder of the team that she and Kosmo would follow Keith’s path and report in as soon as they found something.

Acknowledging Krolia, Coran looked back at the group, exchanging worried looks.   
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
Keith slowly came to awareness with his stomach rolling, and a pounding in his head overwhelming any ability to think. Slowly opening his eyes, he watched the world swim and dip before his stomach emptied itself of any memory of meal. As his stomach contracted, searing pain through his entire body sent him swirling back into unconsciousness.

The second time Keith started to wake, the pounding in his head seemed designed to prevent any logical thoughts. The paladin tried breathing in and out in rhythm, but he could not draw a long breath. As he became more aware through the pounding in his head, Keith realized he still hung upside down from his right ankle, which partially explained why he could not draw a deep breath. In this position, his lungs would compress from the pressure of the lower organs. Gingerly, hissing as movement sent spikes of agony through his side and head, Keith explored as much of his torso as he could reach. Cataloging his injuries, he found his armor dented through most of the front where he had impacted something on the wall, compressing inward into his kidneys, diaphragm, and most of his lower stomach. The rest of his armor appeared intact. Suppressing a whimper, he moved up toward his head and found a large goose egg, not that he had ever seen a goose egg, on the front of his head where he had initially impacted the wall, and a smaller lump on the back. He must have struck the wall a second or third time as his body spun.   
Dizzy, he laced his fingers together rather than letting them dangle below his head again. Keith did not want to know the status of his right ankle. Dimly he felt it throbbing, but it paled in comparison to his head and stomach. Realizing his left leg hung awkwardly he bent his knee toward his chest, hissing as his right ankle pulsed with pain as the movement started him rotating gently. 

If his head would just stop pounding for a minute or the dizziness lessen so he could think. Not go back to sleep. He needed to ask Shiro. Oh. Shiro. He could call for help. Thanking the universe for nearly indestructible communicators like the old-fashioned black boxes on Earth airplanes that recorded flight data. Keith wondered how they created those and who thought of the idea in the first place. He tried to remember what he remembered from his history class but drew a blank. A little odd because Keith had loved his history of flight class at the Garrison. One of the few he did not have work so hard to master. Having bounced from foster home to foster home before the group home, his academic history --or rather the lack of a continuous education-- had left him struggling to keep up with the rest of the garrison cadets. He knew they all thought him aloof and egotistical, but really, he needed every extra minute to try and understand all the material he did not have the background to understand. Cramming in three years of missing math to understand the basic physics class had not left time for socializing. Not that he could brag about having any of those. The one time he had approached another student for help, Keith involuntarily shuddered. That moment had put him off asking again, ever. Wait, his mind had drifted. 

He needed to do something. Oh, right. Call Shiro. Chanting to himself in his head so he did not become distracted again, Keith slowly moved his hand to engage his emergency beacon and try and reach the team. He managed to press the side neck of the suit where Pidge had decided no one would accidentally activate them, he realized his eyes had drifted shut and his arms fallen back down, or up? He could not tell any more. Straining to listen, he coughed and tasted a coppery flavor in the back of the throat. Not a good sign. Not a good sign at all. Ok. Ok. Think through the pounding. Upright. Keith needed to move upright to relieve the pressure on his lungs and head. Right. Gods it just hurt so badly to try and think. Ok what would anyone do? A light. Mostly pitch-black hole with only a bit of light filtering down from way above him. How far to the top anyway? 40 feet? 50 feet? He could not tell how far he had fallen down the rabbit hole.

Down the rabbit hole. Like that character from that ancient cartoon. That girl in the. . . blue. . . blue dress who fell down, down, down. Her dress billowing outward to act as a parachute. Drinking tea on the way down and conversing with inanimate objects that animated. Became animated? Wait. Pause. He needed to do something. A light. Right. Pulling his hands back to his chest from where they had started dangling again below his head, he pressed the button on his left forearm to activate the light source. Flashlight? Not an earth flashlight, more like a lantern, really but it did provide illumination. It felt too bright to his dark-adapted eyes. He pointed the flashlight away to give himself time to adjust. Keith did not dare close his eyes in case he passed out again. 

Moving the flashlight slowly to keep himself from starting to rotate on the vine, he noticed the protrusion he had impacted looked like a shelf on top of a triangle. If he could manage to pull himself up, he could at least lay down until rescue arrived. Keith did not let himself think about how much this would hurt, based on the damage to his torso and head. He knew he needed hurry because fighting off passing out again continued to grow harder. Not to mention the ability to concentrate. Like powdered drink mix. No. Focus. Grappling hook. Let it embed in the wall above the platform and let it pull him upward. Right. Ok. It would hurt like a bitch, but he would be horizontal rather than upside down. Right. Ok. Pass the line underneath. Shit. Shit Damn. Breathe. Not too deep. Breathe. Shaking hands, not so good. Shock? Maybe. Ok, aim. Fire. Keith’s world greyed out as the jolt of the line penetrating the wall passed through him. He did not know how long before he could bring a shaking had to press the retraction button. As the line tightened behind his back and around to his arm, he let himself scream as the stress of holding the line made his torso feel like he would tear in two. 

One second. 

Two seconds. 

Three seconds. His body slowly righted itself and the rush of blood downward made Keith’s vision go white. 

Four seconds.

Five seconds.

Six seconds. 

Seven seconds. His knees bumped the edge of the platform as the line pulled him over the edge. Letting the line go he let the retraction turn him over and finish pulling him onto the ledge. He stopped the retraction, the line holding him semi-upright. Putting down his left arm, he recalled the grappling hook. As soon as the support disappeared, his left arm and side screamed in agony as he let the line rewind and then slowly let his arm collapse. This time, he did not fight the darkness.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Krolia looked down the hole where the signal originated. She could see a light illuminating a wall, and what looked like a body next to it on a narrow ledge. Gesturing to Kosmo, she allowed the wolf to see Keith. “I found the boy. The wolf will retrieve him, but you should bring a conveyance to the site to transport him back to the lions.” Krolia absently responded to the dismayed cries in the communicator before turning it off. The wolf vanished and reappeared moments later with Keith, staying protectively above him, whining quietly. 

Giving the wolf a gently shove to evaluate her son, she started cataloging injuries even as she knelt next to his side. His right ankle, with some vine wrapped around it lay at an awkward angle. The vine looked odd with the end dripping a red fluid from where it had sheered during Kosmo’s transport. She did not want to remove the leg plates until they returned to the lions as it would keep swelling down and support the break. The entire lower front plate of the armor looked caved-in and obviously impacted his ability to draw breath. Krolia began the process of loosening the armor, to relieve the pressure on his chest. As she jostled her son, he groaned but did not open his eyes. “Keith, can you hear me?”

“ ‘Om?”

“Yes. We followed your single and Kosmo transported you to the surface. The paladins are bringing transport back to the lions. I am removing your chest plate, to relieve the pressure on your lungs.”

The paladin did not respond, but started coughing, a rough wet sound. Krolia quickly rolled him to his side as dark red blood erupted with the force of the cough. Keith bit back most of the scream of pain at the abrupt change in position and the pain from his ribs and stomach from the coughing. He could not stop the tears from running down his cheeks. His Mom moved to support his back to keep him slightly on his side should another coughing fit begin. Keith knew he should say something, anything, but it would take more energy than he had. He just wanted to pass out again to escape the pain, but another round of coughing started with more blood coming out. 

“I think it pooled, blocked by the armor.” 

His mom continued to talk, but Keith did not even try to pay attention. He latched onto the rhythm of her voice, comforting and familiar after two years together. He let it sooth him between bouts of coughing and blood. They stayed in that position for dobashes, or vargas until more voices and the sounds of people running through the forest, scaring all the animals in the vicinity. He started coughing again, and this time felt something pop in his chest. Not a good sign. Not like the peace sign, or the victory sign, or a thumbs up sign. A small snort escapes as he starts thinking about good signs and the darkness closes in and he lets it take him away from all the agony of his body.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

“Move, humans.” Krolia ordered as the paladins paused at the sight of Keith. Shiro gave the yellow one a small shove forward toward where Keith lay. Inwardly Krolia reminded herself their own planet considered them immature. Of most species to have developed sentience, humans had some of the shortest life spans. Their bodies matured to reproductive age much faster than their brains. These children, while capable of reproduction, did not expect to have fully developed, mature brains for many more phoebs. She expected Keith to take even longer. He had grown significantly during his time in the abyss, and the exposure to the differing time streams had greatly increased the maturation process, but she suspected he would experience a second growth when he reached human maturity, and the Galra genes moved from dormancy. She had seen the process in other hybrids over the centa-phoebs of her life. Whether he kept his mostly human appearance remained in question. Krolia suspected he would, since most other Galra hybrids kept the dominant traits through maturation. Mentally refocusing on the task at hand, Keith’s mother made a mental note to continue her analysis during the next long sleep cycle of the humans. While she had pondered momentarily, the other paladins had approached with a portable transport unit. 

The Yellow Paladin set the stretcher, as he called it, directly behind Keith so they only needed to roll him slightly to lay on the surface. The Black and Yellow paladins then picked up the ends, and carefully started walking as smoothly as possible back to the lions. Inwardly, Krolia winced at the primitive technology that jostled her son as they tried to walk quickly back to the camp, without causing additional damage to Keith.

Krolia walked along side of the ‘stretcher’ monitoring Keith’s breathing. 

“Did you have a chance to do any analysis, Krolia?”

“No, Black Paladin. Although I suspect internal damage due to the compression from the armor. Other than the thorns that pierced the armor at the joint, I do not see any external bleeding.”

“Wait. The thorns pierced the armor?”

“No, it appeared to have somehow moved through the joint gap between plates.”

“That’s odd.”  
“Secondary concern, Paladin. I believe something has ruptured internally, because of the amount of blood Keith expectorated. Based on the large protrusion on his head, a concussion is also likely.”

“Coran, did you hear all of that?”

“Affirmative Number One. The lions do not currently have enough power to use the healing pod, but Allura believes she can stabilize him enough until the power becomes available.”

“How long do you estimate, Coran, until the power becomes available? And can Allura do more than stabilize my son?”

“We do not know, Krolia. The quintessence of this planet is strong, but oddly flavored. We do not detect any lifeforms with discernable intelligence, but there seems to be some sort of consciousness.”

“Understood, Coran. We are a minimum of 30 dobashes away at our current pace. I believe Kosmo can cut at least 10 dobashes off that time if we send him ahead with Keith.”

“Acknowledged, Krolia. We will await your arrival.”

The two paladins and Krolia fell into silence, all focusing on the Keith’s rough breathing. Shiro found himself holding his breath, each time Keith stopped breathing, only to exhale roughly when he heard the rough sounds start again. Shiro feared a rib had punctured his lungs, and the wet breathing sounds reflected the blood slowly leaking into the space. They had little in the way of medical equipment, the Alteans had relied heavily on their pod technology. Coran had slowly built up a supply of medical equipment found on less technologically advanced planets, and Krolia had brough along the medical kits supplied to the Blades. Shiro only hoped it would be enough. 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

About 20 dobashes into the return trip, Kosmo abruptly disappeared with Keith, leaving Krolia and the two paladins folding up the stretch and breaking to a trot through the dense undergrowth to return quickly to camp. It took another 20 dobashes before they emerged into the clearing with the lions and the rest of the party, Kosmo obviously managing to transport Keith further than anticipated. Shiro and Krolia immediately ran to the Black Lion, where they saw Allura laying next to Keith on her side, one hand on his chest, the other cushioning her head. 

Coran looked up at their approach and waved them away from the pair on the ground. They walked out of immediate earshot.

“Number 4 is out of immediate danger,” began Coran.

Shiro sent a worried look toward his brother, “Why do I hear a ‘but’ in that statement.”

“Because we have a potential problem. That vine that had wrapped around his ankle, embedded thorns into the Black paladin’s flesh, and had started to draw out his quintessence through absorbing his blood.” Coran glanced back at the two lying still in the grass. “Allura managed to stop the drain, and slow the internal bleeding, but she could not transfer enough quintessence to do more than that. Before she passed out from exhaustion, she mentioned the Black Lion had aided in stabilizing Number 4, but his low energy state did not allow him to do much. She is currently holding Keith stable, and passively using the planet’s energy to heal the damage caused by one of its creatures, but. . .”

“But?” asked Shiro as Coran’s pause continued longer than he liked.

“But the planet is fighting the transfer. It sees Keith as legitimate prey. Allura hopes by filtering through herself, she can restore Keith’s quintessence and disguise from the planet what she is doing. We think the plant embedded something in Keith that allows a connection even though there is no physical part of the planet still present, which makes a quandary. We need Allura connected to the planet to transfer the quintessence, but the only thing which could block the planet from still draining Keith is moving him off planet. At the present, Allura is restoring the quintessence faster than the planet can drain it from him without the active connection of the vine, but it is not leaving enough energy for Keith’s body to recover.”

“A catch-22,” murmured Shiro. “Like chemotherapy.” At the confused looks of both Coran and Krolia, he tried to explain, “Human medicine still relies on poisoning cancerous growths of the body, which also damages healthy cells and drains the person, in some instances making them feel sicker than if they did not receive treatment. Left unchecked, the growths will eventually kill the person. We had started making strides in alternative treatments, including targeted viruses to destroy the growth, but it is a slow process.”

“Ah. Primitive indeed. Not unlike using Grobruk venom to counteract the effects of the poison of the Garung plant.” Coran nodded to himself. “Right now, my main concern is the blood loss. His blood pressure is low from lack of volume, forcing his heart to work harder.”  
“On Earth we would give him a transfusion from a blood donor, but that will not work here. Can we hook up at least a saline drip to increase the volume and give him some nutrients for his body to use?”

“How do you mean, Number 1?”

“Well, in the pods you can add a nutrient broth for the nanites use as an energy source? On Earth we give something similar through an IV, intravenous line, directly into a vein.”

Coran hmmmed and twisted one end of his moustache. “I can do that. I might even be able to add some nanites in, we have enough energy to create a few, and that would give them something to work with, and if I add in. . . yes!”

Without another word, he strode off toward Green where he had stored most of the medical supplies and to consult with Pidge if she had downloaded any data on what would go in this solution they used on Earth. Shiro watched him go, then exchanged a worried look with Krolia who abruptly walked off toward the forest.   
“Krolia! Where are you going?”

“We still need supplies. I can do nothing more here, therefore I will continue Keith’s mission and retrieve what he had already collected.” With that, she strode off back the way they had come. Shiro opened his mouth, then closed it, turning back toward Keith and Allura. He walked over to kneel next to Keith. He had not allowed himself to look before but seeing the bruising on his face and listening to the rattling of his breath, heavy, wet sounds, he realized Coran’s assessment probably only touched the surface of the problems. Allura had not stirred at his approach, and he could see the exhaustion in her face. She looked. . . faded. Squinting his eyes, Shiro could see a faint glow surrounding her, and extending down her arm to Keith. Bowing his head, Shiro asked the Universe to cut Keith a break for once.   
As he sat thinking, he wondered why the fates seemed to continually hit Keith with punch after punch. Surely, he could not have acted horridly enough in a former life for Karma to give him such suffering. He could only hope that at the end, the Universe would give his brother the life and legacy he deserved. 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


	2. Questions with no answers

Any mistakes in grammar, spelling, or general editing belong solely to me, as I did not seek out a beta.   
Characters and creations such as the lions belong to WEP and I only borrow them to play in their Universe.   
Enjoy!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Hours later, Krolia returned with Kosmo, Keith’s bayard and Marmoran knife strapped to her sides and a sack of supplies slung over her back. Kosmo carried two sacks in a similar manner as Earth horses bore saddlebags. Krolia paused to take in the scene as she entered the clearing. Allura sat against the Black Lion’s paw with her left leg tucked under herself, and Keith’s head in her lap while she ate from a steaming bowl. Coran sat on the ground next to the pair, talking without his usual flair. Kosmo teleported himself out from under the bags, to sit at Keith’s feet. The wolf paused only a moment before letting out a small, mournful sound. Then, pulling the blanket covering Keith down, lay his head gently on the paladin’s bare chest. 

Coran paused in his soliloquy, expressive eyebrows raising as he looked at the wolf. Approaching, Krolia realized that they had removed the torn, bloodstained under armor, replacing the lower half with comfortable looking trousers, but leaving him bare from the waist up. Allura wore soft shoes, but had her bare leg tucked down Keith’s right side, with his right hand resting at his waist, elbow on top of her leg, and his left at his side, palm up, with what the humans called an IV, in the crook of his elbow. Coran moved back from his position at Keith’s left, to allow her to kneel at her son’s side, gently brushing the bangs from his face. From her position, she could see the faint blue glow of quintessence between the Princess and the lion, and between the two paladins, wherever their bodies touched. More surprising, she could see a dimmer emanation from the wolf. Krolia’s eyebrow raised in surprise at the previously unknown, to her at least, ability of Keith’s companion.   
She often wondered at how much intelligence the creature held. Keith maintained the wolf ‘felt’ smarter than any human, except maybe Pidge and Hunk, he had encountered and that the wolf just needed to mature. Rather than contemplating her son, she gave herself a minute to think about Kosmo. Even after two years on a journey through the quantum abyss, Keith still exhibited reticence about sharing. She believed he understood more about the wolf than he shared, and the questions continued to increase. How big would he grow? How long would he live? Did others of his kind even live in this Universe or had he fallen through a gap between them in the Abyss? How much intelligence did the wolf have? 

Too many questions, and no one to give her answers. Or rather, the one person who had some answers would mysteriously change the subject whenever asked. With a breath, she looked at Coran, “And?”

“And the planet started changing its attack. The grass under Number 4 started morphing and pushing up to try and encircle him. We have a particle barrier between him and the planet, while still letting Allura be in direct contact.” 

When Krolia looked closer, she did not see any kind of light showing her the barrier, so she turned and let the question show in her eyes. 

Coran answered the unspoken question, “It take less energy to not have a physical manifestation. Black Lion currently supplies the power, but it has slowed his own regeneration. We know how much quintessence the lions can absorb without disturbing the balance of the planet, and looking at the charge levels, most of what Black absorbs is being redirected elsewhere.”  
Allura interjected, “Into me, I think to help disguise what I am doing from the planet, but I think some of it also goes directly to Keith, although we cannot be sure.”

Krolia made a non-committal sound and let her hand rest gently on Keith’s bare shoulder. His skin felt cool to the touch, normal for humans with large blood loss, not a good sign for her son who typically ran hotter than humans. “Can you modify the barrier to emanate some heat? His temperature feels far too cool, which would mean more energy directed away from healing.”  
Coran started for a moment, “The other paladins did not mention him feeling too cool.”

Krolia only nodded, “Galra temperatures tend to run much higher, as you know. While we travelled together, Keith mentioned he had to find ways to avoid having his temperature taken on Earth, because it registered well outside what humans consider a normal range. He does not run as hot as a pure Galra but too hot for a pure human.” 

The orange haired man had already pulled out his data pad before Krolia started speaking. Within moments, Krolia could feel the heat from the barrier in her knees. None of the three parties spoke. Coran continued to make notes, Allura finished her soup, set the bowl aside, and leaned backwards against the lion until she nearly reclined, eyes closing. Krolia continue to kneel at her sons’ side, watching intently. As the heat spread, she watched a minute shift from Keith as muscles tense from cold, relaxed.

“Showing some of his stress hormones, as humans call them, decreasing. Amazing. What does his temperature normally register?”

Krolia responded with a shrug, “I do not have a number for you, just hotter than humans and cooler than Galra. Maybe with a slight tendency closer to human norms.”

“That would explain why the nutrition we give through the ‘IV’, as the humans call it, did not seem as effective. His body shunted it toward heat generation. Interesting.” Coran moved over toward Allura and murmured to her. She nodded without opening her eyes. Coran moved to Keith’s right side looking at Kosmo and twirling his moustache for a moment. Crouching, he looked the wolf in this eye, “I need to move Keith’s arm. . .” Before he could finish, the Wolf had maneuvered himself until he lay next to Allura’s leg, nosing under Keith’s arm gently. Allura skootched back slightly, gently lowering Keith’s head and letting Kosmo take her place as she pushed herself to a standing position, before stretching. “I will be back in 10 dobashes.” Picking up her bowl, she walked back toward the Blue lion. 

Coran looked backed at Kosmo, once again twirling his moustache.

“I have the same questions.” Krolia’s voice interrupted his musings. “Keith has kept his silence about Kosmo. He claims the Kosmo will let people know what he wishes, and it is not Keith’s place to reveal his secrets.”

“Hmmmmmm. He certainly has picked up tactics for fighting with Keith, and understands every word said to him.”

“Yes. Keith maintains he ‘feels’ smart but needs time to grow.”

The wolf in question did not respond to either the Galra or the Altean, but instead kept his focus on Keith. He carefully wiggleed himself until his head covered his friend’s chest, and arm rested on Kosmo’s back. Krolia though she saw Keith’s fingers twitch, as though he intended to pet Kosmo, but could attribute the movement to Kosmo’s resettling of himself.  
“Has he stirred at all?”

Coran shook his head, “Allura thinks he will heal better if he does not fret about his injuries or feeling like a burden. The boy has come a long way from when he first arrived at the castle. Why, when he first came, I had to start insisting on a post-combat and mission health examination because he would hide injuries and try to self-treat to avoid “wasting anyone’s time” on him. He reminds me of my Great-Uncle Kranvor – you could chop off an arm and he would apologize for bleeding on things. In fact once, when Great-Uncle Kranvor encountered an Flunnugger he”

“Coran. About the boy?”

“Oh, er, uh right you are! I can tell you about Great-Uncle later around the campfire. A human custom of telling tales. Well, not entirely human, it seems most sentience species developed storytelling around the fire in some form or another. In fact, once on the planet Valshor. . “

“CORAN!”

“Right, right. Well, Allura managed to stop the internal bleeding, or at least slow it down. We cannot be sure until there is enough energy for the healing pods, but he has not coughed blood in over a varga. Although at the end, I do not think he was particularly aware. We straightened and splinted his ankle and removed what thorns we could find. The vine had wrapped itself nearly to the knee, and embedded multiple rows of thorns. Since Keith’s quintessence had dropped, Allura managed to create a stronger source for the vine to wrap itself around. Fast little bugger. Shiro said when it struck, it reminded him of a, Cabra? Codra? Cobra? Some kind of venomous reptile from their home planet that strikes with deadly accuracy and speed. Once the vine loosened its grip, Pidge electrocuted it, and that was that. Well, except for the fact the planet still sees Keith as tasty prey. Which does not make much sense since the life on this planet produces such an abundance of its own. Maybe it wants a different flavor? After all, even I have to switch from Nunville to Flubargruff occasionally!” Coran laughed at his own joke, before sobering at the look on Krolia’s face. “Er, um. Right-o-then.”

Krolia gave Coran a flat look and held up her fingers. “Let me make sure I understand then. He has a concussion, internal injuries of an unspecified nature, a broken ankle, and an entire planet seeing him as prey?”

“Yes, and do not forget the broken ribs, punctured lungs, and enough bruises to look like my Aunt Linta’s favorite blanket.”

“Right, Let’s not forget those details. The healing pod does not have enough power, and will not have enough power for several quintants, so we have to use the human’s primitive medicine to keep him stable until we do?”

“That seems about right. Easy breezy lemon squeezy!”

Krolia let the last comment slide right by, no one ever knew half of what Coran said. Turning back to her son, she let her hand rest again on his shoulder. She had only two brief years to know her grown son and would fight the entire planet itself to keep him safe if one could fight a planet. For now, she could only support Coran and Allura anyway possible.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
Allura found the erstwhile bickering trio resting, subdued in front of the Green Lion. Lance sat on the ground, bare patches showing where he had ripped out all the greenery. Allura blinked as she watched the patch grow larger, even where Lance could not easily reach. What happened to the plants? Pidge sat cross-legged on top of the ramp, obviously avoiding touching anything on the planet, while Romelle lay on her stomach, knees bent and feet waving in the air. Whereas the area around Lance grew in bareness, the area before Romelle appeared to thicken with plant life as she watched. 

As Allura watched, she noticed Pidge shudder and scooch further back on the ramp. “Creepy. Just creepy. Plants should NOT migrate.”

“I though plants on your planet moved with the sun? At least the is what Lance told us. They seek the sun, he said?” Romelle looked confused. “How does that differ from migrating?”

“Oh. Lance, do not try to explain again!” Pidge almost yelled as Lance opened his mouth to respond. “You just make things more confusing.”

“You may know a thing or two about computers Pidge-a-rini, but I grew up on a farm! I think I have more knowledge about plants in my little finger than you have in your great big brain of a head!”  
“At least I have one big head instead of two little ones!”

“Like you have any real experience there!”

As Romelle watched the argument escalate back and forth like a tennis match, a smug smile creased the corners of her mouth. Allura narrowed her eyes and tapped one finger against her mouth. As the volume increased in the argument, Pidge suddenly found herself ejected from her lion as the particle barrier activated just behind where she sat on the ramp and extending outward until Pidge lay sprawled on the ground. The Green Lion stood up and turned to sit next to the Black lion, back toward Pidge, her particle barrier shrinking until it fit like a second skin on the lion. Within seconds, the Red Lion had joined Black and Green. 

Allura felt a brush of Blue against her mind, with a sense of urgency, as Blue and Yellow joined the other three lions. They formed a circle around where Keith lay next to Black, each lion connected at their heads, tails moving to rest across the hindquarters of their neighbor, forming a second circle encompassing Keith. 

Blue sent a greater sense of urgency toward Allura, who dropped her forgotten bowl and ran at top speed toward the center of the lions, and Keith.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
END CHAPTER 2  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I had intended to only write a one-chapter “Once-again the Universe has it in for Keith” piece, but once again, failed. Since I started writing fanfiction, I have only managed a few true one-shots. Even my short pieces ended up chapters long. In this case, this unnamed planet objected to only a two-sentence mention and pointed out he had a much larger tale to tell. The “discussions” about exactly how long a tale remain in negotiation.

As with anyone who writes for fun or for career, comments “feed the ego.” My husband makes fun of me when he sees me wiggle in delight when they arrive. HOWEVER! As most people have busy lives, finding the time to respond to every story or chapter becomes quite daunting. Just knowing people find this interesting enough to want to hear more, works for me.

Since this did not have a beta, comments regarding flow and egregious errors in my rough draft, offered as constructive criticism, I welcome.

Blessings!


	3. Remember?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The planet does not let go easily.

Again, any mistakes belong to me. The story proceeds apace, and I will update as quick as I can.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Allura rushed through the small gap between Blue and Yellow, nearly stumbling as the ground within the circle of the lions seemed to shift and move. All five of the lions’ eyes glowed, focused on the comparatively small figure in front of Black. The pilot, seemingly awake, thrashed weakly against the onslaught of greenery trying to envelope him. Not only had the plants nearly enveloped Keith, but Kosmo waged his own battle against the thorny vines and other plants wrapping around the wolf’s flanks. Spots of blood dotted his fur where the long protrusions had penetrated. Krolia appeared to be making progress in freeing herself with Keith’s knife, the plants seemed to shrink from the blade. Coran used his strength to rip the plants off himself, but the vegetation replaced itself as quicker than he could free himself. 

Even as Allura paused for a moment to assess the situation, the ground around her exploded; large vines erupted from the dirt, reaching for her. Summoning her Bayard, the princess called for the spear. Acting on instinct, she stabbed it into the ground, using it as a conduit to push a burst of quintessence around her. The attacking vines dissolved, and she pushed another wave toward the embattled group. The greenery in the path of her attack turned to ash. As soon as the vines around Kosmo vanished, he surged forward to touch Keith and both vanished. 

The vines collapsed from where Keith had laid trapped and lay still. Coran and Krolia freed themselves and looked around, ready for another attack.

Allura fell to one knee, panting, head lowered. The five lions’ eyes faded, although the feeling of alertness emanating from them did not diminish.

Catching her breath, Allura used the spear to stand upright, pausing as a wave of tiredness washed over her. Pushing so much quintessence had drained her reserves. Approaching Coran and Krolia, she kicked the vines off the area where Keith had lain. The barrier, littered with small holes, showed where the planet had slowly worked its way through the layers of protection to reach its prey. 

Coran joined her, pressing his fingers into the surface, and closing his eyes in concentration. “The planet found weak spots and changed the structure of the plants to attack the quintessence, no different than how plants can break down almost any surface if given enough time. I can repair the damage, but the weakness in the structure will remain.”

“Do you know what happened? What did the lions do? Why didn’t Kosmo teleport Keith away immediately?” Krolia carefully cleaned her blade of the red tinged sap-like liquid from the plants. “Why does this planet want him so badly? We have too many questions and not enough answers.”

Allura nodded, “Agreed. It makes no sense. Keith’s life force has dimmed, and I could barely transfer enough quintessence to keep him stable. No telling what this latest attack has done. There must be something we have missed. The planet does not want Coran or me, and we have the most experience with quintessence. Of the rest, Krolia, you have the strongest life force remaining. So what /does/ the planet get with Keith?” She shook her head and started jogging toward the Black Lion, “The most important thing right now, I need to check Keith and his stability.”

Coran and Krolia quickly followed behind. Too many questions, and not enough time.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Keith looked around, hunting for the path he had lost after the last group of creatures had attacked him. He reached his hand to activate the emergency beacon in his armor and tried for the umpteenth time to contact someone on the team. “Keith to Shiro, do you copy? Pidge, Lance, Hunk? Can anyone hear me?” Letting himself lean against a tree for a moment, he took deep breaths. “Patience yields focus, patience yields focus. Ok, taking stock. I am on a strange planet, out of communication with my team, being herded to some destination. How can I change the playing field?

“I have enough water in my suit for two days and ration bars for a day, less at the current rate I am burning calories. I can call Black, but only if the creatures chasing me take a break long enough to give me a chance to focus. Ok, defensible place. A cave. A dead end, somewhere to make a fortification long enough.”

Nodding to himself, Keith pushed off the tree. Choosing a direction at random, he walked quickly, not bothering with stealth. He did not know how the creatures tracked him but trying to move quietly and unseen only made it easier for larger groups to catch up to him. He figured he had about 10 or 15 dobashes before the next group found him. With that in mind, he tore open a ration bar. After a mouthful, he picked up his pace to a lope he could sustain for several vargas, scanning for a defensible position. The planet had to have a defensible place somewhere. As he concentrated, the terrain began to change from dense jungle to a lighter, younger jungle. In the distance he saw a cliff face. Keeping the cliff face in sight, he let his awareness seep around him to pick up his pace, letting himself see and feel the obstacles with all his senses. 

He felt the attack from the creature ticks before it would have landed in the middle of his back where they creatures had focused their efforts to weaken the armor. They worked as a pack and seemed to regenerate. Some of the creatures sacrificed themselves to give a packmate the opportunity to engage the same spot on his armor. Keith took the blow in his side, letting it send him into a controlled roll and back to his feet. He immediately turned to block the attack of the second creature waiting for its opportunity. The ape-like things did not adapt to new tactics and continued to use the same moves that had initially worked. Finding a pattern had made it easier for Keith to evade them and when forced to engage, end the battles quickly and decisively. A third and then a fourth enemy emerged from behind the trees, and Keith backed himself until he could see all four in front of him. The battle paused as each side waited for the other to make the first move. The paladin kept himself readied, having learned that making the first move ended with more bruises. He also worried that his armor would not take many more hits before leaving a gap. Finally, with a hooting noise, the creature on the left moved with the other three quickly following.

Diving between two enemies, Keith slashed at the hamstrings with his Bayard and Mormoran Blade before coming to his feet and dashing forward to await the next wave of attack. He had discovered it would take longer for the next set of creatures to find him if he incapacitated rather than killed. Maybe it took more energy to repair than replace. The two hamstrung enemies began to pull themselves forward on one leg and two arms. Keith ignored them and kept his attention on the two opponents still intact. They looked backed and forth between their comrades on the ground and each other, hooting softly. As they tried to reevaluate the situation, Keith kept easing himself back, putting himself in a better position. 

Finally, the two turned, and tried to run around Keith to come at him from both sides. The pilot waits until the creatures fully commit to their charge, then throws himself into a sideways roll, coming up to gut the first creature, grabbing its side to cause it to crash into its friend. In the pause while the second creature tried to disentangle itself from the intestine, Keith sheared through its arm, and then sliced through tendons at the back of its knee. Not pausing to see how badly he had injured his enemies, he started loping toward the rocky outcropping ahead of him. After a minute with no sounds of pursuit, he paused to catch his breath and wipe the blood-like substance off of his blade. It did not congeal like blood and reminded the paladin of strawberry syrup. He allowed himself another bite of the ration bar and drank more water. He knew his exertions burned more calories than he allowed himself, but he had to conserve as much as possible. 

He had seen no berries, or trees with fruit, nor anything that resembled something edible hanging from the trees or clinging to the few bushes he had seen. Other than the creatures following him, he heard no sounds of animals nor did he see any evidence of any other living critter. Shaking his head, the man focused on the quickly growing cliffs in front of him. Sooner than expected, he found himself a football’s length away. He blinked at how quickly the ground had disappeared. 

Turning to the left, he walked quickly along the face, looking for a crevice, short cave, or even a dead end where he could set up a defense, and give himself time to try and contact Black or the others. He did not have Pidge’s or Hunk’s give with electronics but had become somewhat proficient in his time living in the desert and hunting for Blue. He did not spend every day hiking and looking for the source of the energy signals he felt. As he walked, Keith found himself thinking about those days after his Dad had died, especially the time after Garrison had unceremoniously booted him.

Using a fake name and address, he spent time in the library, especially on the coldest and hottest days. He could check out books that helped his search. Keith knew once he turned 18, he could take the test for his GED and maybe find a job rather than standing with the rest of the workers looking for day labor for enough money for food and to replace his clothing as it slowly wore out. Desperation had quickly replaced pride, and he humbly did any job asked, no matter how lowly or disgusting. Hunger, cold, and loneliness drove him further than any thoughts of ambition. The other day workers fell into two groups, the ones who looked out only for themselves or their cohorts, and those who had started in the same place as Keith. Stumbling a moment, Keith realized he might never know what happened to those workers. After all, he could not exactly contact them from a magical lion, galaxies away. He could only hope one day to find Ricardo again, to tell him what happened.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Keith shivered violently as he stood slightly apart from the other workers, waiting to see if they would work that day. His thin t-shirt and worn hoodie did not help much against the cold. Worn, but clean. He had done his best to look presentable and older than his years. Today marked the third day he hoped to find a job. Last night his dinner had come from the shelter on 3rd but the people in charge had started asking too many questions about his age. He did not want to end back up at the group home. Even though the people in charge tried, they had too many problem children to really control what happened there. Small for his age, quick to anger, Keith had too many enemies among the other children to return safely. So he waited, stomach cramping from too many days of missed meals. 

The day passed slowly. Even after the other workers had mostly left, Keith stayed, hoping for a miracle. He did not pray, because no deity or power had ever answered his most fervent pleas for help. No one would ever help. With a battered book in his hand, one of his Dad’s favorites, he stood, shivering too hard to read. 

Another hour passed and the boy had to admit he would have no work again that day. Stamping feet, he forced his cold muscles into movement. A pizza joint about a block away sometimes would give him the pieces of pizza patrons did not finish. Plus, the outside of the building stayed warmed because of the ovens on the back wall. It would have to do for tonight. Tomorrow. Tomorrow he would try again. 

The next day, clear and colder than the day before gave him pause before making the long trek into town. He had no food left in the house, not even his emergency supplies. Water no longer stopped the hunger pangs, and he felt light-headed. It did not stop the urgency. 

Finally, he made it to the parking lot of the warehouse store where the day workers waited, starting at 6am. He paused along the way to warm his hands against a truck whose owner had just shut off the engine. It felt incredibly warm to his hands and arms. Keith had to resist the urge to just crawl on top of the rapidly cooling engine to feel warm just for a minute. 

“Hey. Kid! What are you doing on my truck?” 

The loud voice speaking in Spanish, startled Keith out of his reverie. “I-I-I’m s-s-s-orry.” He automatically replied in English. “Didn’t m-m-m-mean . . . “ he trailed off, looking down trying to appear unthreatening. 

The man frowned, looking at the teen, then looked back at his group. He raised an eyebrow and pointed at the kid. His friends looked at the kid, obviously shivering in clothes too thin for the weather, painfully thin wrists and hands still resting on the cooling engine. The five men exchanged an entire conversation in a few looks and each nodded. “Kid. You speak Spanish?”

The kid did not raise his eyes and again replied in English, “I c-c-can understand, but n-n-not s-s-s-speak too m-m-much.”

“Huh. Ok, I speak English.” He paused, looking for the words, then in a heavy accent, “Don’t you have school? Why are you here so early?”

The boy shrugged, teeth chattering, and stuttering with the cold, “Home-schooled. My mom’s. . . sick. . . so I need to earn some money because there has been a mix up and the check did not come.” Keith mentally crossed his fingers the man would accept the story. 

“Aye, Dios mio. Well, chico, you need someone to tell you the rules.”

The boy finally looked up, “Rules?”

“Sí, sí, the rules. Primero, no one will hire a kid, that is just looking for trouble.”

The boy’s face started to crumple, and his hands clenched into fists, despair written in his features.

“Pero! But – if you are part of a crew, a sobrino or primo of someone on a crew then we bring you along, ¿comprende? 

Keith felt his heart drop. He did not have anyone. The future loomed before him, and it looked bleak. Nodding, he removed his hands slowly from the truck, and pushed them into the pocket of his hoodie, mind racing as to what he would do next. Head down, he started turning away, when the man spoke again.

“Chico! You do no understand. Look at me,” he nodded as the boy slowly raised his head, “We” he gestured to the men behind him and himself, “would like you to come as our sobrino, ¿no?”

Keith looked bewildered, “But you do not even know me?”

“Eh, I am your new Tío Ricardo. These are your Tíos Juan, Alejandro, Nuncio, and Fred.” The four men waved at Keith as Ricardo pointed at each one in turn. “Now, you just come with us, and you put in a fair day’s work, you earn a fair day’s share, ¿comprende?” Ricardo started to reach out to the boy to pull him along, and saw a telltale automatic wince backwards, so he changed it into a sweeping gesture. “Now you tell your Tíos your name, eh?”

“K-Keith.”

With that Ricardo swept Keith along into the crew. In short order, one of his new Tíos had found a warm jacket left behind by a brother, nephew, or cousin, Keith could not quite understand. The crew spoke a rambling mixture of Spanish and English, Italian from Nuncio, and something from Fred that no one understood, that left the boy a bit confused. Then before he knew it, a warm burrito filled with eggs, cheese, and salsa filled his empty belly, and a hot cup of chocolate courtesy of Tío Fred. Without knowing exactly what happened, Keith found himself at a worksite using a pickaxe clear away sod from an area where a homeowner wanted to put a second parking area for an extra car. His Tíos looked out for him the entire day, and made sure to share their lunch, and make him take breaks. 

Later Keith would learn the Uncles looked out for kids like him. They knew from the moment he opened his mouth he did not have a sick mother whose government check had not arrived. The crew had regular clients who knew they looked out for kids down on their luck and made sure to keep work ready for Ricardo and his crew. They made good money, paid their taxes, and helped the community. It would take a long time for Keith to really trust the crew, but they taught him skills not only in the value of hard work but practical skills like fixing machinery, driving any kind of truck, car, or machine he could put his hands on, and other skills he would need after he turned 18. 

He worked hard, studied harder, and continued his search for the source of the energy signals. With a steady source of income, he did not have to worry about food or fuel to keep his house warm in the freezing desert nights. With regular food, he started practicing martial arts again. Not only the karate of his very young childhood, but anything he could download onto his secondhand tablet. He could not explain how easily the forms came to him but chalked it up to early exposure by his dad.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Keith clucked his tongue and brought himself back to the present. Daydreaming meant inattentiveness and that invited injury or death at the hands of the things hunting him. He needed a defensible position. With a jolt, he realized in his woolgathering he had almost passed the perfect place. Shallow, with a rock overhang, it would prevent anyone from coming at him from the rear, the overhang would protect from above, and he saw several large rocks that would work as a barricade if he had time to prepare. With a sigh of relief, the paladin began preparing his defenses. 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Hope you have enjoyed chapter 3! Often in my writing, characters appear who did not originally play a part in the story. Ricardo popped in to give some more background on Keith and give framework to explain some of the backstory. The only thing not made up whole cloth? I actually did use a pickaxe and create a second parking spot for a car. With two teenagers, we needed another spot. If you ever need a workout – I can highly recommend a pickaxe workout!

Cheers!


	4. New information

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Conversations and realizations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, I play in WEPs universe only.
> 
> Again, no beta -- so feel free to point out glaring continuity errors or grammar issues.
> 
> Enjoy!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Allura had never realized how much energy the Black Paladin radiated. Even in the healing pods, something reached out from him, almost like the tentacles of the Gralors, constantly testing the air for danger and in search of food. If not for the shallow breaths, and the movement of his eyes, the princess could have mistaken . . . no, she had no times for such thought, but wait. The rapid movement of his eyes. That indicated a highly active dream state. “Coran?”

The advisor/healer/mechanical genius/mentor looked up from where he had knelt by the boy to check vitals. 

“Can you tell me if he has emerged from the dream state of humans?”

Pulling up his data pad, Coran frowned. “I show the active dream state has not abated and continues to spike higher and higher. The sheer energy output does not match any of the data I have for the other paladins or Galra. Good spot, Princess. The planet must be forcing the dream state, but why? It still makes too little sense.”

Thoughts rushed through Allura’s head faster than she could process. “Wait. Just let me think this through. Have you noticed that Keith always seems to have, um, feelers out around him?”

“You mean the quintessence field he manifests which allows him to process the data of the immediate situation and react that moment faster than his opponents. Yes, seems to be quiet now, which makes sense if he barely has enough to keep his self together.”

“You knew about the field?”

Coran turned to look at Allura, “Of course. Rare it is to find it, especially in one so young. Untrained, but powerful, he has done an amazing job of containing it as well as he has. It was one more thing I have been meaning to take up with Krolia and the boy during this trip, but opportunity has not struck. I wonder if it has to do with the combination of human and Galra DNA. Human DNA is remarkable in its ability not only to mutate but to subsume completely alien DNA. It will be fascinating to see what happens when he reaches the age of Galra puberty if that trend continues.”

Looking at her advisor, Allura blinked. “You have lost me. You knew about the field? Why didn’t you say something? And what do you mean Galra puberty? Doesn’t his own planet consider him a full-grown adult?”

“Hnnn, well as to that. My understanding from talking with Shiro, that humans reach physical maturity anywhere from 5 to 10 decaphoebs before reaching mental maturity. While Keith’s human side may have reached physical maturity, his human brain has not. Moreover, Galra can live nearly as long as Alteans, they do not enter their puberty until they reach at least 20 decaphoebs, if not longer. Probably longer for him since his human side had to mature first. Data on hybrids has always been scarce. According to Krolia, the Galra would consider him an adolescent, not ready to leave the nest much enlist on the front lines of a war.”

“So,“ began the Blue paladin,

“Wait! That just might be it.” Coran started muttering to himself, fingers flying over the data pad before moving to sit in Black’s chair. With a quiet, “If you would be so kind,” directed to the Lion, he brought up an enormous amount of data and started manipulating it. Allura watched, trying to follow his train of thought, but he moved faster than she could follow. Her advisor may present as, what phrase did the paladins use? Comic relief. She forgot sometimes how long Coran had lived and how much he had learned. He had advised or at least learned from the advisors of the last four generations of the Altean monarchy starting with Allura’s Great-great grandfather. Her father had often counted Coran as one of the blessings from He and She Above. The man had almost no peers in terms of his intelligence. When combined with his experience of more than 600 decaphoebs, he had, used to have, only a few peers—those born to each generation with such gifts. The Green paladin might come close, but as a human, would not enjoy the decaphoebs to truly develop her abilities to the fullest.

Tapping her fingers in impatience, she contemplated the humans and their abilities as she waited for Coran to figure out something. As dobashes passed, she knelt next to Keith, Kosmo letting out a worried whine. Even looking deep, she saw the quintessence inside him flickering, growing dimmer moment by moment. Placing her bare hand on his chest, Allura pushed her own quintessence toward that flickering light, The princess knew the planet suctioned the quintessence, but even burrowing as deep as she could, Allura could not find the source to block it. She could only shore up Keith’s own, and hope Coran could find an answer soon. 

In the back of her mind, Blue stirred. The pilot received the impression the five lions had fended off some kind of attack against Keith, and it left all of them feeling drained. The assault had taken all the quintessence they had absorbed and more, leaving them with less energy and trapped on the planet until they could replace it. Allura felt the grief and apology the lions could not siphon faster or bolster the princess’ efforts to keep Keith stable. She sent back a wave of love and understanding toward Blue and felt gratitude and love in return as their bond once again faded to the background.

Pausing in her efforts, Allura stood to drag the mattress from the cot in the back to the floor next to Keith. Kosmo disappeared and reappeared in a dobash with the mattress from her bed. Patting the wolf in gratitude, she arranged the mattresses so she could pull the Black paladin close enough she could rest her hand on his chest, as she let herself succumb to exhaustion. 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Keith leaned back, panting. He did not know how much longer he could continue to disable the monsters before they reappeared, whole, to attack again. The cave made the difference in allowing him some rest between waves. Disabling the creatures gave him extra time. Breaking legs, punctures into organs took the longest to recover, usually giving Keith at least an hour before they respawned. Like a video game. 

The paladin’s eyes narrowed. Like a video game where the monsters come until the protagonist finds the solution to the puzzle. He had never had much time to play video games. Kids in foster care almost never saw a gaming console, and he did not have friends who invited to their houses. Before the garrison simulators, the only games he had access to came from secondhand store, marked down to a few dollars. One of the foster homes, the kids had gone diving for coins and begged until they had earned enough money for a really old console and two games. When they went in to buy the store, the owner of the store had given them all the extra controllers and games just to make room on the shelves. The kids had joked that no one wanted the useless games and they fit together because no one wanted leftover kids either.

Shaking his head, the pilot brought himself back to the present. Like a cut scene, he thought to himself. So, if someone or something had trapped him in a video game, how could he escape? Chewing a lip, he tried to remember scenarios from other games. The hero needed health, and to look for clues. It followed then, that the cave would have a hidden cache of supplies. 

Bringing up the timer he had started after disabling the last of the monsters, Keith noted he had about 45 minutes before the next wave. With a tired groan, he forced himself back to his feet, wiping a hand across his forehead to clear sweat and slick his hair back. Picking a wall at random, he started tapping, pushing, and looking for a hidden compartment. As the minutes ticked away, the paladin pushed away any doubts he would find something. “Patience yields focus. Patience yield focus.” He repeated as he searched. 

After nearly 30 minutes of searching, a portion of the wall crumbled inward in response to Keith’s hitting it with the hilt of his sword. The stone crumbed, revealing a passageway, a breeze rushing through as the barrier collapsed. With a loud whoop, Keith pushed himself through the narrow gap. The breeze felt wonderful, cooling him down and giving him a burst of energy. 

After a short rest, he activated his light, and smiled. Finally, something started working for him. The pilot would have to turn sideways and shimmy through the narrow passageway, which meant the monsters would not fit. If the way stayed this narrow, it would give Keith a chance to rest. Really rest, and not a ten-minute catnap. The way continued to narrow until the pilot had to shimmy out of the top portion of his armor to squeeze through. He ignored the scrabbling and the hoots from the monsters as they tried and failed to maneuver into the narrow cracks. 

Pausing to push out his breath at the narrowest point, Keith felt glad for the tough under-armor. He would have left skin behind without it sliding easily across the stone. The passageway suddenly opened into a small cavern. The narrow passageway continued across the way. Knees wobbling, he let out a breath and ungracefully collapsed down to the ground. Surprisingly, rather than hard stone, soft dirt covered the area. His tired brain supplied water must have left the deposits. Placing his armor next to the wall and laying on his side with an arm tucked under his head, Keith briefly thought about eating a ration bar. He did not have time before exhaustion overwhelmed the remainder of his adrenaline and his eyes shut.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Shiro sat on the floor, next to where Allura had fallen asleep against next to his younger brother and Kosmo covered his legs like a living blanket. Sometimes he forgot just how young. Two years in the abyss and several inches of height had not chased away the look of youth. Of course, according to Krolia he had not even started Galra puberty, which made him an odd mix of the age of physical maturity in humans while still a pre-teen for Galra. Reaching out with his left hand, he allowed himself to run his fingers through the thick, dark locks. It reassured Shiro his brother yet lived. After a time, Shiro realized the other paladins and Romelle had joined him around Keith, each touching him with a hand, trying to share their own quintessence or comfort. 

Laughing, the former leader of Voltron, shook his head at the scene. Keith would hate it completely. First, to know so many people saw him vulnerable, second that so many people touched him. Shiro knew Keith craved touch and feared it at the same time. Too many people had used touch as a weapon or punishment. Suddenly, he found himself rambling about his younger brother.

“Did you know, as a child, Keith laboriously taught himself how to learn through books and using the internet to search for lessons? He shared with me he looked for tutors at the library and shamelessly eavesdropped onto lessons. Since he bounced from foster home to foster home, he started new schools often. When he did return to a school, the rest of the class had moved forward faster than he could keep up.” Shiro let out a rueful chuckle, “I talked to some of his teachers, they either saw him as a troublemaker or as an emo kid who appeared lazy and unwilling to work. He fell further behind in school, not because he is not smart, but because of many factors. Most of the story is not mine to tell, but what my point is – Keith figured out education would keep him out of poverty at a young age and he figured out how to find it. One of the reasons he appeared to avoid people at Garrison is that he did not have the educational background for most of the classes, so not only did he try to keep up, but catch up. I cannot count the times Adam and I found him passed out in exhaustion over his desk. He kept pushing harder and harder, until we had to hide his computer and his books to force him to sleep. I am rambling – the point is – Keith does not know how to quit or admit defeat. He will overcome this too!”

“So. . when Keith stole your car,” Lance started.

Shiro shook his head, “Not my story to tell.”

“But. There IS a story.” Lance said triumphantly. “I am SO finding out the story when Mullet decides he has had enough beauty sleep.”

Hunk groaned behind him, and Pidge smacked him upside the head, “Seriously?”

“What? Don’t YOU want to know emo-boy’s story? I mean, we have travelled together for who knows how long with all the wormholes and wonky time hopping, but have you EVER heard Keith talk about himself? Even once?”

“I have,” came the quiet voice of the Princess, from where she lay next to Keith. She did not open her eyes, but then frowned slightly and moved her hand to where she touched bare skin underneath the loose, long sleeved shirt they had dressed Keith in as his body temperature dropped. “He found me one night after one of his marathon training sessions. I had gone to the AI room, missing my father. Coran had managed to find a program that replicated the juniberry fields and I needed something familiar. Keith came and sat near me, not saying anything, just a presence. After a while, he started telling me a long rambling story about a trip to the desert with his Dad and a group of earth creatures, kay-tees?”

“Cayotes,” supplied Shiro.

“Cayotes, yes that word. He spun a tale of stars and laughter and love. I guessed it was the last trip he had taken with his Dad. Then I started talking about my parents, my cousins, all the family and friends who, to me, had still lived a few movements before. He just listened and let me remember and grieve.”

“He listened to me talk about Bandor and Avok when I could not sleep during the journey out of the Abyss. He did not share stories with me, but listened. It was nice to share stories with someone else so that maybe they would not be forgotten.”

Shiro watched as the kids all realized how many times Keith had just been a presence, listening. 

“Holy revelations, Cat-man – Emo dude is not that emo? What the quiznak?”

“Lance! Language!” Shiro’s mouth crooked even as he scolded. “And in Keith’s place, you are still not using that word right!”

The four earthlings shared a quiet laugh while Romelle looked a bit confused. Hunk leaned over toward her, “Fill you in later.”

Coran jumped up from the command chair, nearly tripping over his own feet in his haste. “Keep doing that!” He commanded, fingers flying over the data pad in his hand.

The group turned to look at the crazy-sounding man, even Allura cracking her eyes. “You will have to be more specific.”

“Positive, group energy. See – his quintessence started stabilizing, as you focused on him. I think . . . you need to fight the planet for him.”

“Quiznak. Fight a planet, Coran? I mean, we are talking about a mass and, according to what we have found out, a planet with something close to a consciousness?” Pidge looked through the empty frames of her brother’s glasses she still wore on occasion. “Are you quiznaking serious right now?”

“Quite, number 5. The planet has latched onto the number 4s or maybe he should be number 3 now that he has passed number 3 who should be number 4 in height? It is an interesting question, does the naming convention change based on time evolution and changing conditions or should the naming convention remain stable as an indicator of the initial state when interactions first began?”

“CORAN!” came the exasperated yell from everyone except Allura who merely rolled her eyes.

“Er. Righty-o! The planet has latched onto the Black Paladin through his quintessence. The supply Allura has been able to give him has staved off his fading, but with the last attack draining the lions, the replenishment has not kept up with the drain from the planet. But in the last few ticks, the dream state has subsided, and the drain vs replenishment has stabilized. Which indicates the planet cannot drawn down the quintessence any faster with the boy staying in the lion and Allura feeding the quintessence back into him. What we need to do, is send one of you to Keith when the dream state starts again to tell him what is happening and be a bridge to figure out how to break the planet’s hold. Then the lions charge up, and what ho! We are back off on the journey faster than a Blakgrag jumps on a Goolfin.” Coran beamed at all of them, twisting his moustache.

Five pairs of eyes blinked at him and even Kosmo raised his head to give Coran an inquiring look. 

With a long-suffering sigh, Allura translated, “One of us needs to use the training headbands to bring Keith to the quintessence plain so we can track how the planet is connected to him and break the connection.”

Silence greeted that pronouncement. After several ticks, Shiro inquired hesitantly, “Who should go?”

Coran twirled his moustache more rapidly, “Now therein lies the question. Allura would be the obvious choice, but she needs to maintain the connection to Keith, and I cannot determine if her entering the quintessence field or Keith’s subconscious would give the planet a connection to her as well. I suspect that is would, which would give the planet one more route to the lions. Keith has done an admirable job of protecting them thus far, but with two inroads it would be more difficult.”

“Wait. WHAT?” Lance interjected, “the planet is now after the lions? I am so confused.”

“Did I not say that part aloud? Oh, yes, the lions, being made from trans dimensional ore, have the capacity to hold the consciousness of the planet, which, as far as I can determine, wants to expand its influence and, well, procreate. To do that, it needs something that can hold part of itself AND travel to another planet to seed it. The lions fit the bill. They need an entry to the lions’ quintessence, and the planet is trying to use Keith’s connection to Black as that entrance. I do to know if the boy is consciously blocking the planet’s ability to use that connection, but the weaker he grows, the closer the entity comes to sliding through that connection.”

“Hold on.” Hunk held his hand up in the air. “The planet is trying to hijack our lions? And use them as incubators? Dude, that is so messed. Up. So wait, the reason the lions are so tired is that they blocked the attack through Keith to keep the planet from taking over? How many times can they do that before they are too tired to fight? I mean, we came here to rest because we are all tired, and look at Keith, it’s like he is fading. It’s like he is barely here as it is. Dude cannot catch a break. Seriously, what is his astrological sign and who did he screw in a previous life? Cause, Man, it seems the whole universe has it out for him.”

“Well, number 2, if you think about it, number 4 IS actually unique in the universe. He is the first Galra/human hybrid. So maybe it is not that the universe, er. . “has it out for him,” but rather does not know quite where he fits with the rest.”

“Wait. What?!? Are you saying the UNIVERSE has a consciousness? Dude. Stick a fork in me, I am SO DONE!” Hunk flung himself backwards dramatically, one arm flung theatrically to the side, the other bending at the elbow to cover his eyes. 

Coran noticed he did ensure he still had a connection to Keith, even in his moment. “A consciousness? No, but when a new lifeform enters into the quintessence, the balance changes. This happens every day, somewhere, of course, but unique creatures seem to throw bigger rocks into the pond. Their ripples impact more object and those ripples can rebound back toward them. Sometimes in very small ways, sometimes in very large ways. Number 4 not only represents a new hybrid, but he has flown two trans-reality based lions, spend years near a third, then spent two years on the back of a space whale that transverses through the Quantum abyss which touches many realities, but spent those times being bombarded by the effects of collapsing black holes, white holes, and the vagaries of time while still a combination of young adult and pre-adult Galra. Furthermore,”

“Hold up, Coran,” Shiro interrupted as he, Lance, Romelle, and Pidge all looked at Coran with varying expressions. “I know you have done a lot of thinking about this, but perhaps this is a conversation you should have with Keith and let him decide what he wants to share. Right now, we have a problem, and that needs solving. I think we should focus there.”

Lance closed him mouth with a snap and muttered, “Great, JUST when we might have some answers about Mullet-head Emo boy.”

Pidge had leaned forward further as Coran has espoused his theory, the light of inquiry bright in her eyes, “Yeah, more answers would be nice.” 

“You are right of course, fix now, theorize later. Well-a-day, back to where we started. Or the middle. We need to break the connection between the paladin and the planet. Allura has been unable to find the connection, so we need someone to go to Keith and help find it. Now, when we think about who would be best. . . “

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Thanks for you patience as I added a bit to this every day, but not as much as I would have liked. Questions? Comments? Confusions?

I look forward to hearing from you.

\--KM


	5. Hope springs eternal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Romelle joins in

.

X. . .X. . .X. . .X. . .X. . .X. . .X. . .X. . .X. . .X. . .X. . .X. . .X

.

Romelle looked around nervously, glad Krolia had finally chased off the rest of the paladins except Allura. She had agreed to try and reach Keith after Krolia had failed. Coran did not have an explanation why Krolia had failed to connect. Privately, Romelle thought she had too many secrets too let down her barriers enough. The paladins had kept tripping over each other’s words as they tried to explain the process to Romelle. Lance, of course, had made things even more confusing. Pidge had tried to explain about matching brain waves and relaxing while not relaxing. Hunk just instructed her to “think happy thoughts.” As if any of that helped. Romelle did not have the frame of references to understand most of the things the paladins said. Keith, though, Keith--she could understand. He always made sure to explain his references or to find relatable ones to her. It helped they both lived simple lives. He in the desert and she in the colony.

Realizing she had tuned out all of Coran’s instructions, she forced herself to at least pretend to pay attention. Simple really, since watching the advisor jump around looked like her cousin after landing on a stinging Garlas nest. He waggled fingers, jumped from foot to foot, spinning in circles, while twirling his moustache and generally made it hard for Romelle to hide her smile. She nodded from time to time, until Coran finally wound down and reached for the circlet to place it on Romelle’s head. 

“Now remember, you will enter Keith’s dreams somewhere in the Astral plane. You need to try and find him and let him know what is going on and see if he can direct us how to help.”

“I understand, Coran.” She bit her lip nervously and took a deep breath.

Romelle lay down next to Keith. Allura reached across Keith’s chest to link hands with Romelle and try to bring her quintessence in harmony with Keith’s. Since the black paladin had faded, it would take more effort and energy from Romelle to reach him. He could not sustain his end of the bond, but Allura would supplement as much as she could. 

The group had decided to wait as long as possible to let the lions try and recharge and give Allura a chance to rest and refuel. After four hours, Keith had entered back into a spiking dream state. Two hours later, Coran determined they needed to act. The pull on his quintessence had spiked, and the fading of his life force had resumed. 

With a last deep breath, Romelle closed her eyes, and reached. 

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

Keith jolted awake as the loud hoots echoed through the passageways. He could not determine how much time had passed, but he only felt. . .less exhausted. It still pulled at him, but with less urgency. Looking around, with his light, he saw only one way to go forward. Walking toward the way forward, he heard only the echoes of the beasts’ cries. It seemed they had started forcing the passageway behind him to open wider to let their larger bodies through. From the sounds of scraping and breaking rock, he did not think he had much time before they broke through to the small area. With a sigh, he picked up his armor and started forcing himself through the narrow passageway leading upward. A spell of dizziness made him pause. Realizing he had not eaten or drank anything before passing out, he waited until the dizziness passed, and then moved forward to where the passageway widened, ad opened a ration bar to eat it as fast as possible, washing it down with water. He looked at the levels of his water, with a grimace. He only a small supply left. Leaning his head back a moment, the paladin took a breath. This situation looked grim. 

Taking one more large breath, he grasped his chest plate again, and continued sliding sideways. Taking a step, he did not feel floor beneath his leading foot. With a gulp, he maneuvered as close the edge as possible, and then looked around. The empty air came from a sunken floor of a large cavern, about two feet below the way Keith had come. He could see several open ways from the room. Bending his knees, he stepped carefully down, watching for any further unseen holes or weak spots. Walking carefully, he circled the room, leaving his armor at the entrance he used so as to not lose his spot. 

His instinct told him to go upward. Marking the way with a small pile of stones, he retrieved the armor and started up the passageway. It remained wide enough for Keith to fit with his armor, so he returned to the cavern briefly to don it again. With both hands free, Keith felt relived. Walking for another few minutes, he stumbled as another wave of dizziness passed over him. This time accompanied by someone calling his name. 

Great, he had started hallucinating. Keith had lost all track of time fighting and running, but he should not have started succumbing to hunger or thirst just yet. Taking a breath, Keith closed his eyes, inhaling through his nose and exhaling slowly through his mouth. Rather than growing better, the dizziness started to increase. He felt a tug on the left side of his body, but only the pressure of the walls kept him upright and he could not fight the pull. Realizing he had started holding his breath, Keith let it out in an explosive burst, only to have his consciousness follow. He had a moment to realize the walls kept him mostly upright, and then complete darkness filled his mind, but he did not lose consciousness. Instead, he found himself floating in a void, lacking in all light. He could not see in the void but felt shapes around him. After a time, a voice started whispering in the darkness. Concentrating, the voice started to grow louder, although the utter lack of light did not change.

“Keith? Can you hear me? Keith? I need you to come a little further. Keith? I know you do not have much energy, but we are trying to reach you. Keith? Can you hear me? Keith? Can you come a little further? Keith? I know you do not have much energy, but we are trying to reach you?”

Intrigued, Keith let himself drift a little closer to the voice whispering in the void.

He . . . closer. . . just . . . .onger.

He overheard some words, sounding excited. “Keep coming! Only a bit further.”

The paladin drifted further, then stopped as a wave of dizziness passed over him again. 

“Ok. Stop! Go back, you. . . “

The rest of the message came to Keith garbled as he felt something squeezing his chest until the pain made it almost impossible to think. Loud heartbeats echoed in his ears as he struggled to breath.

Too close. . . . need a boost. . . Yes, push. . . “

Keith felt invisible hands wrap around his torso and gently guide him backwards or down, he could not tell. As they moved, the crushing pressure around his lungs and heart eased, and he could breath again. 

As the heartbeats faded from his ears, he could hear someone talking quietly next to him, voice strained. 

“Keith? Can you hear me now? I have to be quick, you are further away than we thought, and there is not much energy to stay.”

Nodding, he finally recognized the voice, “’Melle?”

“Yes. Look, I know this is weird and confusing, for me too, but here is what you need to know. Yes, it really is me. We are on the astral plane, where you have met the lions?”

Keith startled; he did not know anyone else knew he did that.

“I know, but not the others. Not my place to share. Look, that is not important. The planet? It attacked you and is currently trying to use you to hitch a ride on the lions. We need you to know it has you trapped in your own mind; your body is in Black. The planet sapped the lion’s quintessence when it attacked them through you. The lion’s repelled the attack, but it left them too weak to leave the planet. Allura has been able to feed you quintessence as the planet uses yours or incorporates yours into its to it can flow to the lion. Honestly, I do not understand Coran, but the important thing is, you have managed to keep it at bay. Can you understand me so far?”

Keith nodded, not bothering to try to speak. If his mind had supplied the imagery for his battle with the planet, his escaping the monsters became more important. The reason he found the cave, the back where the monsters could not easily follow. He had focused enough to change the playing field. Which also explained why he felt so tired. 

Romelle continued to talk, but the words started to fade, “Try sending. . . . . no sure how. . . .”

His mind whirled, attempting to parse the words together, trying to send something? Energy? Directions. All Keith knew, he felt exhausted and near the end of his endurance. For a moment, he let himself despair, sinking into the phantom embrace of the young woman he named sister. For a moment, he felt the brush of lips on his forehead and a gentle hug. “I believe. . you. Can. . . . try. . .”

With that, Keith dug deep within himself, to the part that could never quite stop hoping, no matter how bleak circumstances grew. Raising hands, he returned the hug, and then gently stepped back. Pressing a kiss to Romelle’s forehead, he let himself begin to fade from the astral plane. He spent much time here, and knew how to navigate. 

“Love. . .”

He did not hear further words from Romelle but smiled and sent a wordless reply. 

Thinking furiously, he evaluated his energy levels. Nodding, he focused on moving deeper into the void. With a mental twist, he left an anchor to give himself a last fallback position should things continue to go sideways. Then, with a particular shift in attention, he returned to the cavern where the planet had trapped him. He smiled, a predators smile, he knew the battlefield, and thanks to the games with Black in the abyss, knew if he could not defeat the planet, he could and would stop it from achieving its goal.

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

“Oh!”

Romelle heard the soft exclamation from Allura as she surfaced back to herself. Reaching up, she removed the headband, and then draped one arm across her eyes. “Lights. Down.”

“Of course, my dear, of course. You went further and longer than we thought. You must be hungrier than a Nakno during mating season. You just rest while I go find some food, then you can give us all the details, hnn?” With an awkward pat between the top of her head and her ear, Coran loped back out of Black to find what the other paladins had made for dinner. 

Romelle did not move because her head pounded, eyes felt like someone had put icepicks through them, and her stomach rolled like an ocean during a storm. 

“You strained your body’s ability to use quintessence and stretched your essence too far into the abyss.”

“Krrglxx?”

A low laugh greeted the nonsense letters coming from the vicinity of her mouth. “Keith did the same thing multiple times. He pushed himself in any and all kinds of training we did. Pidge called it a, um, my-grain? I do not understand humans and using the same words to mean different things. Evidentially grain is what humans make flour out for baking, and something to do with wood. Honestly, human language does NOT make sense. Ugh, now I am starting to sound like Coran.”

Romelle made a sound of either agreement or sardonic laughter, Allura could not tell which. It sounded gargled.

“It will pass, and, if what I saw Keith do, eating does make it better, even if your stomach does not want too. Calories does not replenish your quintessence, but it does give your body some fuel.”

“Uhhhh-nnnn.”

“Me too, Romelle. I feel like I have gone ten rounds with a level 27 training bot. And then wrangling people around a diplomacy table. Black? Can you lower the lights and go to the blue spectrum, please?”

The lights immediately dimmed to just enough to not trip in the dark and shifted to a spectrum better suited to eyes. Both women, and Kosmo let out sighs. As silence fell in the cabin, Romelle shivered, and moved over the last inch to try and share some body warmth with Keith. She jerked in startlement when she felt his much cooler body temperature. Placing one hand over his heart, Romelle could feel his heart’s slow beats. Too slow. 

“Quiznak! Allura, have you felt Keith’s heart rate and body temperature? Both have dropped even further.”

The Blue Paladin did not waste any time, “Black, I need to you warm the area around Keith and bring the cabin temperature up. Coran?”

“Princess?”

“We need a fresh nutrient solution for Keith, his body temperature and heart rate have dropped dangerously low. Kosmo, we need the warming blankets again. Romelle, body heat.”

Before Allura had even finished speaking, Romelle had stripped herself of clothing, and worked with Allura to remove Keith’s coverings as well. Kosmo staggered to his feet, and went to the bunk with the thermal blankets, and carefully grabbed three and brought them back to Allura. Romelle and Allura arranged themselves on either side of Keith, tucking as close to the Black pilot as possible. As soon as they had arranged themselves, Kosmo pulled a blanket into each woman’s hand, then took a corner of the third in his mouth, throwing it over himself like a tent. Carefully, he moved until he had a paw between Romelle’s side and Keith’s and Allura’s and Keith’s, and behind their feet. Kosmo then settled slowly down, covering Keith where the women did not, taking care to keep his weight on his legs until he looked like a crouching sphinx protecting its nest. 

Coran came running into Black with two bottles of solution, another thermal blanket, and a knit cap. Leaving the bottles for a minute, he very gently lifted Keith’s head to cover it with the cap and placed the blanket under his head. The floor radiated heat under where the four creatures lay. Romelle could feel the stark difference between Keith’s body temperature and her own. Coran briefly uncovered Keith’s left arm where it lay across his chest, attaching one of the new bottles to the IV port before carefully covering it and pulling the blanket back to cover him completely. He then crouched next to Keith, the data pad in his hands with fingers flying over it. “Cannot believe how quickly that happened,” he muttered to himself. Romelle only caught of few words and phrases, “did something. . . But what?. . . reminds me. . . possible?” After a few minutes, where Romelle let herself drift away from the pounding headache behind her left eye and working to ignore the rolling of her stomach, she felt Keith start to shiver. The shivers increased in intensity as his body finally warmed up enough to feel the cold. The Altean would bet her last GAC that whatever the Green Paladin and Shiro had cooked up in the IV, had more concentration of something to give Keith the energy to fight and heal. 

As time passed, Romelle started to feel over heated, which added to her pounding headache and nausea. Kosmo started to pant. Breathing carefully through in nose, she swallowed. Keith needed her to stay to provide the heat his body could not produce, and to save him from needing to use the calories to generate it. She felt the blanket lift from the back of her, and let someone tuck it under her arm, and around the back of her knees and in front of her shin to let her feet and back expose to the cooler air of the room. She could not help but let out a sigh of relief as someone placed something cold from the back of her neck to her mid-back, and then something else around her feet. 

She could have wept from relief and her body, still hot in the front, started to cool from the something at the back of her neck cooling her blood as it flowed. 

“Romelle, can you open your mouth, and drink for me?”

Without opening her eyes, Romelle accepted the offering of a flexible tube. She sucked greedily at the cold liquid inside. It tasted like berries, with a slight chalk undertone.

“The Yellow Paladin called it a ‘Smoothie.’ Quite popular on Earth he says, and a great way of packing calories into an easily digestible form.”

Romelle only grunted in return. It tasted good, easy to drink, and disappeared all to quickly. Her stomach settled, and the pounding behind her eyes faded. Someone carefully pulled the tube away from her mouth, so that not even a drop spilled on her face. 

“I added something to help with the pain from quintessence strain, and you should start feeling the effects soon.”

Pointing and flexing her toes, Romelle realized she could hear Kosmo also drinking something. She cracked her right eye enough to see large hands holding a bowl of green liquid that Kosmo neatly and efficiently drank. She closed her eye for a moment, and when she cracked it again, Kosmo’s head lay until his nose nearly touched Keith’s chin. Woozy and sleepy, she smiled and moved her arm so she did not disturb the IV until she tangled her hand in Kosmo’s fur and let herself fall into the oblivion of a healing sleep.

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

I had intended this as the last chapter, but I realized it would cut out too many details. 

Hope you continue to enjoy this!

\--KM


	6. The final battle

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

Keith opened his eyes slowly, feeling like the morning after he had found the old bottle of whisky at the desert shack and drank most of it. His head pounded, stomach rolled, and felt like he had as much energy a drained car battery. He shuddered to think about how he would feel when he woke up in his body and not just within his own mind or the astral plane. If the others had Romelle contact him, then everyone knew what had happened. No hiding this time behind a story of a migraine, or no sleep, or some other reason he looked and acted off. Lightly banging his head against the rock in front of him, the young man tried to come to terms with his teammates finding out one more thing that set himself apart. Only half-human, never having finished school, aging two years while traversing through a Quantum Abyss, and who knows what else now. He knew the time in the Abyss had changed him. He and Krolia had talked about it as she watched him grow during the time they spent together. The visions from the time fields had affected him to a much greater degree than she did and for much longer. Krolia believed because both he and the wolf had not finished maturing, they had incorporated changes into themselves. 

No time for ponderings now. The planet had trapped him somewhere between his own mind and the astral plane, but Keith had survived the abyss and spent time working with Black in the astral plane. No way would he lose this battle. Keith knew his energy levels would not sustain him much longer with the strain from the battles he had already fought and what he had expended communicating with Romelle. An anti-climactic ending. Like authors who ran out of steam toward the end of a novel. Build with great detail, and then just gloss over and fast forward to the end. The pilot ignored the hoots and hollers of the creatures appearing to come closer. The planet had used them as a distraction while it worked to create a link to the lions using Keith as a bridge. The playing board needed shifting so he could find and sever the link. 

Keeping his eyes closed, Keith allowed himself to close off his outside senses to focus on building a new scene. No more caves or tunnels, no jungles, no creatures, just an open space where the quintessence connections would dominate the scene. With the particular twist he had learned from Black, he opened his eyes to an empty area. It looked like a desert sand in an oasis of stars providing dim light. 

Looking at himself, he could see a large, parasitic link emanating from his ankle, running off to the distance. It pulsed a dull red, with the quintessence it sucked. Three smaller bonds ran the other direction, one white threaded with blue, one black and one blue delivering a smaller amount of quintessence to him. His arms and hands showed sheared off links that glowed a dull red, slowly growing cell by cell.

With a sigh, Keith pulled out his Marmoran blade and concentrated on the area at the tip growing hot. When it glowed white, he placed it over the first of the sheared off links, and then screamed as he burned the stub of the link until it turned to ash, burned out root and stem. Tears in his eyes, he moved from link to link before his courage deserted him. 

As the last one turned to ash, he fell forward to his arms and knees, with the blade held under his left hand, panting. Charred bits of skin floated away from his arms as his shuddering breath disturbed the dead areas. The final parasite in his ankle squeezed and tried to pull harder from his quintessence, in retaliation for destroying the new growths.

Fighting for breath, he pulled his remaining quintessence tighter to himself. He could not stop the entire flow to the planet through the parasite but slowed it to a trickle. Evaluating his reserves, Keith knew he had to rest and let some of the flow from the white, blue, and black ties replenish him before the final battle. Curling on his side, he concentrated on keeping the flow to the planet clamped down and trying to not pull too hard on the flows from the outside. Breathing steady, he closed his eyes and started counting the seconds.

.

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

.

Allura jolted awake as Keith suddenly let out a cry of pain. His back arched upward and he panted. The Blue Paladin caught Keith’s hands before his frantic movements pulled out the iv line in his arm. Kosmo had stood when Keith had started arching upward, and Romelle looked around in confusion. “Take his left arm, Romelle!”

The women fought to control his thrashing without causing more injury. 

“Kosmo, can you help immobilize his legs before he makes the breaks worse?”

The wolf looked at Keith, and carefully moved his legs to bracket Keith’s at the thigh and just below his knee, avoiding his broken ankle, keeping him from shifting too much.

Romelle braced her free arm across Keith’s hips, while Allura tried to keep his upper body from thrashing to protect the broken ribs. Keith let out a near continuous keen of pain from between clenched teeth. Coran dropped to his knees by Keith’s head, and added his strength to Allura’s to try and keep Keith from puncturing a lung or worse, shatter his ribs.

As the minutes passed, the four watched in horror as burns began appearing on Keith’s hands and arms. First red, then black as the skin bubbled and then burst. Eight times they watched his skin burn. Then Keith collapsed back to the floor, limp, and panting. 

After a minute, the four exchanged glances and carefully lifted their hands and bodies. The Black paladin did not stir. As Coran scooted back, Keith’s head lolled to the side. After another minute, his breathing quieted and the brief period of animation ceased as if it had never been.

Allura swallowed hard and rubbed her eyes. “Coran, what was that?”

“Quintessence.”

“I have never seen that before.” 

Romelle carefully tucked the warming blanket back around Keith before scooting backwards to sit with her knees bent, and her chin on top of her knees, looking at Keith intently.

“You have seen it, m’ dear. The Druids do exactly this kind of damage, only on a larger scale.” He reached for the medical supply bag and pulled out a vial and a roll of something cloth-like. Romelle moved back slightly further as Coran knelt at Keith’s left side and gently applied the unguent from the vial to each of the burns on his arm and hand. He then very carefully lifted the arm to wrap the cloth around it. “The ointment will keep the burn moisturized and help the skin regenerate. It will scar, but he should not lose any function. The cloth will protect it from dirt and germs and has some lesser nanites to promote healing.” 

Allura moved awkwardly around to Keith’s left side as Coran moved to bandage his right arm. She did not want to lose connection with him. For some reason, she had the feeling he needed the quintessence more than ever.

Once Coran had finished, he stayed kneeling at Keith’s side, one hand over his heart, the other on his forehead. He remained that way for several minutes. With a sigh, he leaned back on his heels, rubbing his eyes. Romelle watched as he visibly gathered himself together before reaching up to twirl his moustache and look at the other three. “Well-a-day and that was a bit of excitement. Always good to have the old thumper up and moving. Good for the circulation, don’t you know. Let’s just change that IV and then find some sustenance for the rest us. Can’t work without calories. Back in two shakes of a weblocks ear!” 

Coran strode out the Black lions’ mouth, calling to the other paladins as he did so. “Number 1, how is that dinner faring? I could eat enough for a platoon.”

Allura just looked at Romelle, neither saying a word. Allura maneuvered herself back to a laying down position, making sure her hand rested over Keith’s heart. Romelle opened her mouth to say something, and just shook her head. She could not offer anything more. Slowly she stood and stretched, reaching for her discarded clothing before following Coran’s path out of the lion.

With a whine, Kosmo looked at Allura, before nuzzling Keith and then following Romelle. 

Allura found herself absently petting Keith’s chest and without knowing quite why, talking aloud to him. “Keith, you feel even further away. Whatever battles you fight; it keeps taking more out of you. You must keep going and not give up. I think we are all learning how much this team depends on you. I know we have had our differences, but you never stopped supporting us or trying to do what you thought would be best for not only the team, but the universe. I finally understand why you had to run to the blades. You were not running away from anything but running forward, or what you saw as forward. You can do this Keith. We are trying to find a way to help, but just keep fighting.” She paused, thinking. “You remind me of a friend of mine. He never looked for trouble, but always managed to find it. Or trip over the crack in the sidewalk. Not that I could see you doing that. You walk too much like a cat. Anyway, his name was Goran and. . .” 

Shiro walked quietly away as Allura started telling the story of her childhood friend. He would bring her dinner in a while and let the rest of the team know to let Keith and Allura rest undisturbed for a while. It seemed like Allura needed to talk.

.

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

.

Keith pulled himself from drifting, trying to gather his energy. He knew that the longer he delayed, the weaker he grew. He wanted a chance to repair the relationships he had damaged by leaving for the Blade and for disappearing for two years. Well, two months for them, but those two years had matured him, he hoped. Some of the visions he saw of potential futures haunted him, some he figured reflected other realities. A few he would actively work to avoid.

Shaking his head, he forced his eyes open and leaned back against the rock that appeared behind him. Pulling his ankle close to him, he studied the parasitic line attached. The vine like structure had multiple points embedded into this skin, clustered around a main line. He gave an experimental tug to the whole mess and gasped as the line not only burned his hand but made his head swim. Ok, no simply pulling out the line. 

Using the tip of his knife, he prodded at one of the smaller of the parasites at the attachment point. Surprisingly, the sucker part pried off easily. It waved in the air for a moment before diving back toward the skin. Quick as a thought, Keith caused the tip of the knife to superheat and the sucker gave a shriek and shriveled. Like a leach. They attach like leaches, so prying them off like leaches and then burning the mouths closed will work. Oh, but this is going to hurt. Gritting his teeth Keith measured the amount of energy he had remaining and the number of parasites. “Going to have to go quick,” he muttered to himself. Taking a breath, he placed the ankle with the parasite over the other one, and started slipping the knife under each attachment point, the burning the end as quickly as possible. The outermost points went easily, not well established, and weak. He worked on the outermost points first, slowing going from the smallest to the larger ones. As he worked, he could feel the energy drain from fighting to remove them and using quintessence to burn each individual strand. He could feel the anger from the remaining parasites. The more he destroyed, the harder the remaining ones pulled on his energy and quintessence levels. Sweat dripped into Keith’s eyes, and his arms began to shake with fatigue. 

“Cliché,” he thought to himself, “Just as I reach the big boss, my energy and health levels have dropped to critical points. I am a cliché. And talking to myself in my own head. And delaying the inevitable. Ok.”

Without a pause, Keith held his ankle in one hand to keep in steady. Then carefully started heating the top edge of his blade and began sliding it under the parasite to remove the hooks in his body. The creature screamed. Nearly dropping the blade, the paladin grasped his ankle until he drew small drops of blood. New growths erupted from the main trunk of the parasite and looked for purchase anywhere on Keith’s skin it could reach. Keith ignored the smaller suckers in favor of continuing to loosen and cauterize the primary attachment point. Time slowed and raced as the two personalities fought for dominance. 

Millimeter by millimeter, Keith fought the attachment until he nearly sliced into his own hand as the resistance ceased. He blinked, and then flicked of the last of the baby tentacles trying to find an attachment point. The parasite lay inert on the landscape and faded out completely. 

Swaying, the pilot grinned and then stiffened as a crushing pain engulfed his chest. His heart started racing like it would burst out of his chest. The desert landscape around him began to crumble and vanish. Too much. Burned too much. Panting, Keith tried to think around the pain, with the last bit of his consciousness he reached for his anchor point. The world turned black.

.

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

.

“Coran, we have to slow his heart rate!”

“I am aware Princess, and I am working on it.”

“Well work faster! I do not know how much longer he can last!”

Coran did not respond, fingers flying as he tried to program something new for the galra/human hybrid. 

“Shock him!” Pidge came running in, breathless. “Cold or electricity. Shock his body into a vagal reaction.”

Coran nodded, “Of course. Makes perfect sense. Stand back, Allura.” Allura scooted back, as Coran touched the corner of the screen to Keith’s chest. She heard a small zap. Keith stiffened for a moment, then his entire body slumped. The lion’s occupants held a collective breath until they heard Keith take a stuttering one, and Coran sighed. “Heart rate is still elevated but coming down nicely.”

Allura moved back to sit cross legged next to Keith, legs touching his side under the blanket and picked up his hand. In the last few quintants, she had watched his quintessence dim. It still flickered. She knew that Black fed everything he could to his paladin from himself and the other lions. More flowed from her and from Kosmo, but it did not compare to the rate at which the planet kept pulling it from Keith. In the last few dobashes, she had felt his quintessence drop at an alarming rate, but from his own use. She hoped whatever battle he continued to fight; it would end before that small flicker ceased. 

Coran starting muttering to himself, fingers flying over the data pad. “Princess. Look. I think he did it. This is a normal sleep. The quintessence drain has stopped, and levels are stabilizing.”

Allura closed her eyes, one hand moving to rest over Keith’s heart. After a few moments, a smile bloomed on her face. “Coran, he did it!”

The elderly diplomat started dancing around waving his hands in the air before running out of the lion to share the good news. 

Allura watched him go, then looked back down at Keith, smile fading. “Rest easy, Keith. Heal. Come back to us. Do not make us wait too long.” She brushed his long bangs off his face gently, letting her fingers trail down his face before taking a deep breath and facing the entrance where the sounds of celebration and running feet grew closer.

.

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for following, leaving comments, and observations. 
> 
> Originally intended as a one chapter short, this grew beyond my expectations. Hope you have enjoyed!


	7. Chapter 7 -- Moving on

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just when you think things will end. . .

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X . . X . . X . . X . . X

.

“I am going to tie you down. . .”

“Promises, promises, Princess!”

“I. wait. What?”

Keith smirked and then sighed. “Allura, we cannot just sit still any longer. I know the lions still need to recharge, but we need to move and quickly. The. . . planet grows impatient and next time we will not be so lucky.”

“How do you know?”

Keith shrugged, and closed his eyes. “I just. . do?”

“All right, I will have everyone ready to leave in the varga.”

“2 dobashes.”

“2 dobashes? We need more time. . “

Keith shook his head, “2 dobashes. I do not know why, just know that is our window. Then something will happen to keep the lions trapped for another movement. We need to leave within two dobashes and head to the next solar system as fast as we can push the lions. There has to be another place to recharge relatively close. Didn’t Coran say this quadrant of the galaxy had a higher than normal proportion of stars with life?”

Allura stayed quiet and then sighed, “You are the Black Paladin and it is your command.” Allura poked the paladin in his arm as one side of his mouth quivered in a repressed smirk. “But you cannot ride alone.”

“I know,” came the quiet reply. “Shiro. . .”

“Will stay in Green with Pidge. Blue has indicated she would be ok with Coran and Romelle, and I will stay in Black with you.”

“But. . .”

“No buts,” Allura cut him off. “You have not managed to stay awake for even a single dobash, only a few vargas and I know that trying to connect with Black cannot happen until you recover your core quintessence. Until you can do both, we need you with Black and I need to stay nearby. This is the most cohesive you have sounded, and I can see you will not last much longer.”

Keith cracked one eye, stubbornly fighting the pull of sleep, “Kosmo. . “

“Does not yet have the maturity to communicate with others in a timely manner. The Lions dictated this arrangement, so you will just have to, as Lance says, ‘suck it up’.”

“Mmmm. ‘Kay.” 

Allura watched as he lost the battle to stay awake, his body relaxing further into the mattress. She reached out and tried to smooth away the pain lines radiating out from between his eyes. The stubborn male would not admit how much he hurt. Coran had not expected him to wake for several quintants or even a movement. Keith had forced himself to consciousness, which did not help his body to heal or his mind to recover from the backlash from quintessence overuse and draining. He faded in and out of consciousness for the next quintant and kept pushing for the group to leave the planet. She could see he could not rest until they left the danger he perceived. 

Of course, the stupid male had made things worse when he tried to leave the bed in the short time she had left the lion. Kosmo appeared before her whining. Rather than let the wolf drain himself further, she ran back to black to find Keith sitting on the edge of the bed, panting with his right arm wrapped around his middle. 

She frowned. The pressure from leaving atmosphere would leave Keith in agony against his broken bones. Allura carefully stood and walked to find Coran and the others. If Keith wanted them off planet in less than 2 dobashes, they needed to find a way to keep Keith asleep through the take-off. 

Shaking her head, she left the lion to tell the other’s Keith’s concerns and orders. 

Alarm showed on all the group’s faces as she relayed the message, and in less than a dobash, they had readied the lions, loaded the supplies they had managed to find, and called back Shiro and Krolia from their forays. They delayed just long enough for Coran to synthesize a sedative with a pain blocker. They had no way of shoring up Keith’s breaks, but she and Black would take a longer, narrower ascent to try and reduce the pressure as much as possible. The healing pod still lacked sufficient power rendering it non-optional. The advisor estimated it would take at least a quintant for the pod to recharge. Meanwhile, Keith would heal slowly and painfully.

.

X . . X . . X . . X . . X

.

Even with the sedative and pain killer, Allura could hear Keith starting to thrash his head. A quick glance back showed his eyes fighting to open. Coran had suggested light restraints to protect the paladin for just this contingency. The sedative contained a chemical paralytic to keep his body from moving. Allura could feel the waves of panic coming from the paladin. Without a thought, she abandoned the pilot seat to let Black finish the launch himself and went to sit next to Keith. 

She put her hands on either side of Keith’s face, “Keith. You are on Black. It is safe. You cannot move because we needed to keep you from hurting yourself. You warned us about the planet, and we are leaving. Keith.” After a few dobashes, Keith stopped trying to move. Allura could feel his heart rate start to increase, in spite of the sedation. His breath rate increased until the princess feared he would hyperventilate and cause more damage to his ribs. What do I do? Black, I need to talk to Shiro and Coran!” 

“What is happening, Princess?” 

She heard Coran’s voice in the background and nearly wept in relief. “I think he is having a panic attack. What do I do? I tried talking to him, but he does not seem to understand.”

“Quiznak. I should have given him the higher dosage. I just erred on the side of caution. I left an additional dosage of the sedative there, but . . “

“Sing, Allura.”

“Shiro? What? Sing?”

“Sing. Give him something to focus on that does not need words to covey meaning. A lullaby. Er, a soothing song one sings to children and babies.”

“Oh. I can do that.” Allura started singing the song her mother would perform every night. 

Hush, child, close your eyes.

Dream of flying through the skies.

Dream of lions who guard the night

With Paladins brave of valor and might.

Hush child, fear not to dream

Of creatures dancing through moon beams

You are loved and adored

Each moment a little more

Hush child, rest a while

Tomorrow comes, and you are loved.

In the background she could hear Coran picking up the harmony of the song, long popular among their families. As she sang, she let her hands sooth Keith’s forehead and cheeks like her mother used to do with her. In her mind, she could hear her mother’s voice. At the end of the first verse, Keith’s eyes looked at her, without any focus. Allura doubted he saw anything other than a blur, but his breathing started to slow. 

At the second repetition of the song, his eyes had started to drift close, and she could feel his heartrate slowing. A light tenor joined and a low baritone, one singing harmony with Coran and the other the melody with her an octave lower. The quartet repeated the song a third time. Allura raised one hand to let the rest of the group know it had worked. The song faded, and the communications from the other lions ended. 

She sat for several more dobashes ensuring Keith had calmed. She placed her right hand gently over his heart to feel it beating slowly and steadily. With a sigh, she started to stand, and let out a startled “Eep!” as Keith’s right hand came up heavily to trap hers. He grunted as his lack of coordination made it land too hard. Allura looked down to see Keith’s eyes, aware, looking at hers. She raised an eyebrow and watched as Keith fought the sedative to speak.

“S’anks. S’nice.”

“Of course, Keith. Anytime.”

He frowned, “Nnnno, mmmore.”

“No more? No more planet? We left as promised. Black brought us out of atmosphere, and we are headed to the edge of the solar system as quickly as they can.”

Keith grunted, closing his eyes for a moment taking a few breaths. “Nnnot move.”

Allura frowned as she tried to parse his request. “No more, not move? The lions? Do we need to stop for something?”

With a growl, Keith’s hand tightened on hers without any strength, “Me. Mussst wake. Mussst move. Not trap.” He bit off each word, and the princess could see how much effort it took to over come the sedative. Oh. The sedative.

“Oh. We just though to protect you Keith. We knew the exit would cause you pain, and we hoped to keep you unaware. I promise, no more sedative. No more restraints. Just. Please just rest now. You need to sleep to heal. This once, let Black and I protect you.”

Keith studied her for a long moment before dipping his chin slightly. With an exhale, his eyes closed, and his entire body went limp as he stopped fighting the sedative. Allura carefully pulled her hand out from under his now limp hand and changed the restraint program. They would keep him from thrashing in sleep and protect him from falling off the bed should they encounter any difficulties but would diminish as he woke. 

She went back to the pilot’s seat and leaned her head back, closing her eyes. A small beep had her opening her eyes and seeing Shiro’s worried visage. “Is he ok?”

“Yes. Just freaked out because of the restraints and the sedative.”

“Makes sense. I heard. . . . stories about some of the things that happened before he came to Garrison. Let’s just say that being caught unaware led to unsavory situations.”

“How did you know about the singing?”

Shiro paused for a long moment, looking away before turning back to stare directly at Allura. “That is not my place to say. If Keith wants to tell you, he will.”

Allura nodded. The two sat in silence, not uncomfortable but waiting. Allura opened her mouth several times without asking a question. Shaking her head, she straightened, “Did Pidge figure out what Keith warned us about?”

“Green detected a massive solar flare. According to the Earth classification system, this registers as an X4 event, which is the strongest classification, but does not adequately convey the intensity of this one. We could expect the solar wind to be extremely strong, and disruptive to the electromagnetic field of the planet. Usually this would not pose a long-term hazard to the Lions because of the short duration, but Coran and I calculate it would cause a major disruption in the Lions systems that would take time to repair and regenerate.”

“Ok. Does the effect disperse at we gain distance?”

“Yes, because the front of the wave increases in diameter, so we will still have some of it hit us, but it should not cause any issues, especially if we shield behind a large celestial body.”

“Good to know. Oh, one more question – other than Coran, who sang?”

Shiro laughed, “Lance and Hunk. Lance used to sing in a choir at his church growing up and Hunk learned the traditional music of his people. I guess his family has several well-known musicians and they learn to sing harmony from birth. I think they tried to form a band at Garrison, but just did not have enough free time to make it work. Of course, not many people want to listen to a fusion of church, native and heavy metal music.”

Allura nodded politely she had understood very little of what Shiro had said other than the two paladins had sung from very young ages. “Why didn’t the other sing as well?”

Pidge piped up from wherever she sat in the lion, “I don’t sing. Or dance. Or do drama. Don’t ask.”

Shiro rolled his eyes at the dramatics, “Princess, let’s just say the my singing voice earned me drinking money because when people saw my name on the karaoke board, they would buy me rounds to keep me from singing.”

“Kar-i-o-ke? What is this?”

“When people sing along to songs where the artist’s voice track has been removed and sing in their place.”

“Oh. So what you are saying, is you cannot sing well?”

Shiro snorted, “Ask Keith about my singing when he wakes up. Ask him if I should sing along next time and then let me know his reaction.”

“Ok.” Allura let her head fall back, exhaustion hitting her.

“Allura, go sleep. We can hook Black’s navigation to Green. You and Romelle need to recover as well. Romelle has not ‘regained adequate vigor’ as Coran explains. He also reports she has what we would call a migraine that has not diminished.”

“Mmm.”

“Allura. Go. Sleep.”

“Ok. Tethering Black to Green.” Allura stood, stretching. Walking to the small bathroom, she realized she had not changed her uniform in several quintants. After a brief cleaning, fresh clothing, she felt much better. Walking over to the bed, she climbed in next to Keith and took the position which had come to feel comfortable, with her left hand on his chest, over his heart, her right curled under her head and quickly fell into sleep.

Some time later, Keith stirred. His left hand reached up and covered Allura’s hand. Content, he let fatigue pull him back to a deep sleep.

.

X . . X . . X . . X . . X

.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter ended up being over 16 pages in length, so I am breaking it up into smaller chunks. Comments and critiques are appreciated.


	8. Chapter 8 -- Hope springs eternal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A light in the darkness

.

X . . X . . X . . X . . X

.

Over the next few quintants the crew developed a schedule and a system. They established a “day” that let the younger humans sleep for 7 varga. Shiro slept less than 6, but more than the 4 the Alteans needed. Galra, it turned out needed two shorter sleeps of 2 vargas each. Which made it easy for Krolia to take a full watch when the Alteans slept, and then take her first sleep after they woke. The first few days, everyone slept more. Coran explained they had all drained their quintessence. Until they found another planet to help regenerate it faster, their bodies would conserve energy by sleeping more. Lance and Hunk both embraced sleeping with enthusiasm. 

Krolia insisted on an exercise routine that had the paladins huffing and puffing. After the 3rd quintant, Shiro requested a private meeting with her. When he explained their age, she responded, “Kits? You brought KITS to WAR? I knew they were young, but KITS?” 

The next day, she announced a readjusted routine to account for the young age of the paladins. The three humans breathed a sigh of relief.

Kosmo, of all the beings, recovered the quickest. He took to teleporting between Keith and Hunk after Lance had caught him eyeing Kaltenecker ‘as lunch’ and banished him from Blue. He did not try and transport people, so visits occurred via space walks and tethered lines. Inertia kept the lions moving with the occasional boosts from the engines. It would take them longer to the next planet but would preserve the small amount of stored power in the Lions for emergencies. 

After nearly a movement, Romelle’s head stopped aching and it no longer felt like the lights stabbed her eyes every time they opened. Krolia met the pronouncement with, “Good. Now you will join in the morning routine. I will take it easy on you, as you are still weak.” Romelle knew better than to complain. It had taken Lance 5 quintants to learn the lesson, and Romelle had no interest in Krolia’s creative “extra” exercises designed for maximum development of the body in minimum time for those who complained. 

By unspoken understanding, Allura and Keith ran on a different schedule. Coran met with Shiro and Krolia to give them a deeper understanding of what Keith faced in terms of recovery. “The boy set himself back when he forced his body to wake before it had regained sufficient quintessence. Allura reported she and Black had both felt a tug on the lines they had established with number 4, although Allura felt the boy only asked for the bare minimum. Instead, he drew down his levels to the smallest I have seen. Then he continued to force himself to consciousness until he could communicate what we needed to do. Between Allura, Black, and Kosmo, they are sustaining the boy, but it means the Allura will recover very slowly as well. We need to keep them fed and resting. I do not expect the boy to wake much or be extremely lucid. I will be very, very happy to have the healing pod charged and put number 4 in it. Right now, his injuries are healing at an almost imperceptible rate. If I thought he could stay awake long enough, I would force him to eat every two hours. But we will have to continue with the nutrient solutions.”

Allura began to watch for the signs Keith would rise to consciousness. Shiro and Coran would then come over to help him take care of any personal needs. The first time Keith had tried to protest he could take care of himself. Shiro had stepped back, gestured grandly, and invited Keith to do just that. Allura could not watch the process as the young man had painfully and slowly levered himself to a sitting position. She peeked to see him braced on his left arm, eyes closed, panting for breath, while his right wrapped around his middle. Shiro stepped closer to lean over to whisper in his brother’s ear. Keith nodded, and the older Altean very gently slipped one arm under Keith’s legs and the other around his back, lifting him smoothly. Allura felt blessed that Keith did not share the same body issues as the other human paladins. Coran had made sure to help Keith clean all the remnants of the planet. By the time the pair redressed Keith in clean, soft clothing, he had fallen asleep. Coran changed the nutrient solution and rewrapped all the various wounds with new bandages. Keith did not twitch during the process. 

“Princess, you are falling asleep. Shiro and I will keep watch while you and the boy sleep.”

Allura did not try to argue, just crawled under the covers, settled into her accustomed position, and closed her eyes. She did not notice when the large space wolf joined the two of them, wiggling until he lay Sphinx-like over Keith, with his head resting on their joined hands.

.

X . . X . . X . . X . . X

.

Allura paced behind in the command chair in Blue, unable to contain her agitation. “Coran, he has not improved. He barely rouses for 30 dobashes, and then only a few times per day. I do not even think he comprehends how much time has passed! Almost three movements – and it does not feel like we are any closer to a planet where we can recover. And when he does stir, it does not feel like he truly wakes. I am glad he has been taking solid food, Goddess knows he needs the calories, but his spark has stayed dim.”

Coran just sat in the jump seat and listened to Allura as she began her fourth, or perhaps fifth, rant. He wondered when she would figure out what drove this particular display. They had tried to have Romelle trade off with Allura in helping stabilize Keith, but none of the others had enough control over their Quintessence to actively guide it where it needed to go. The others could provide comfort, but not healing. Five dobashes later Allura finally ran out of steam and plopped sideways into the pilot’s seat, feet hanging off one side as she ran a fond hand over the other side. 

“Pidge found a potential planet. We changed course during the last sleep cycle and should arrive in about three quintants. According to our files from the Blade, it used to be a small outpost for the rebellion but fell into disuse when it proved to be too far from main travel lines to be of use. The files indicated there should be some buildings left, and perhaps some supplies in stasis. Krolia indicated they never completely abandoned any outpost in case they needed a fallback position. There is a chance there is just more than basic medical supplies and we can help number 4 sooner rather than later.”

“Oh.” Allura deflated, then smiled wryly at her advisor. “Thanks for letting me vent?”

“Of course, my dear. You have taken the brunt of the care for the boy over the last few movements, and you never had much patience to begin with. Now, now. No arguing. You may be older than these children in decaphoebs, but realistically you are about the same age. Except maybe number 4. Hard to tell with all his jutting about in time streams and astral plane and so on. But then there is that half-galra aspect to consider.”

Allura just closed her eyes and enjoyed the rumble in the back of her mind of blue and Corna’s patter in her ears. She just needed a break from feeling the absence of Keith. Slowly she opened her eyes. “Coran?” 

“Yes?”

“What is happening with Keith?”

“You will have to be more specific than that, my dear! Why do you mean physically, or his recovery in quintessence, or maybe his future training or perhaps. . “

“Coran!”

The advisor looked over at Allura with uncharacteristic seriousness. “Allura, that is something I cannot tell you.”

“Cannot or will not?”

Coran shrugged, “It does not matter, the answer remains the same.”

“But,”

“Nope. The answer remains the same. I am as tightlipped as a Gluxian Plugglat. Speaking of which, did I ever tell you about the time my Great Aunt Waltra slipped a Plugglat into the swimming pool at one of the diplomat’s balls? Why I about burst a gut laughing. . . “

Allura let the familiar patter of Coran’s words in telling one of his favorite tales wash over her. She made the appropriate noises at the appropriate parts of the story, but her mind whirled. Coran knew something, but what?”

.

X . . X . . X . . X . . X

.

Keith looked at Shiro’s blurred face. The words coming from his mouth made no sense to Keith, but he kept the pretense going he understood. “Ok. Sounds like a good plan.”

Shiro looked relieved at Keith’s response, so he figured he guess right about what Shiro tried to impart. The words sounded far away and underwater. “Do not delay on my account. Just do it.”

With a final pat on Keith’s hand, Shiro turned and said something to one of the other blurs standing nearby. Keith registered the blur as Coran-sized and shape. Confirmed by the unmistakable sound of his voice. A small whine next to Keith had him reaching over to Kosmo running a reassuring hand over his ears before closing his eyes. The Paladin knew more time had passed than he registered. Unlike other times he had injuries, these did not heal. The place in his head where Black lived hurt to touch or even to try to feel. Keith had a feeling that he had pushed himself too far, and it would not take much longer for the fading of his body to complete. He knew Allura, Black, and Kosmo had kept him from fading completely, but they could not sustain the constant drain on themselves much longer. He sighed in his mind and let himself drift back into unconsciousness. At least there the pain diminished, and he could not feel his broken bones grating against one another instead of fusing or the empty place where Black usually lived. He could wait a little longer, hope a little more. The darkness pulled him under.

.

X . . X . . X . . X . . X

.

Shiro headed back to Blue to help Romelle with the entry and landing, looking happier than he had in a few quintants, leaving Coran and Allura standing in silence. Coran fussed with the Black Paladin’s iv line, checking the wrapped wounds and other injuries. At the end, he sat on the bed, just looking at the half-galra.

“He’s fading, Coran.”

“I know, child, I know.”

Neither spoke for several dobashes. 

“Coran?”

“I don’t know, Allura. He continues to fight, but he did not track anything Shiro said to him. He guessed his responses and sounded lucid. Even now he seeks to protect and shield those closest to him.”

“We should be landing in two dobashes. He just needs to be on a planet, right? One not trying to use him as a bridge to the lions. If we just pump him with enough quintessence. . .” Coran did not look at Allura but placed two fingers over the bride of his nose and sighed. “Allura, I never trained in medical. It never interested me the way that engineering did. I have studied as hard and as fast as I can, but Keith comes from two species, half of which Alteans had never encountered before. Hybrids have never had enough numbers to adequately study their needs. But I am rambling. We can only hope and continue to do our best for the boy. He never quits fighting, and always seems to find a little more energy, and little more drive, a little more every time.” Coran stopped talking and for the first time, looked his age. 

After several dobashes, Allura rose and sat on the other side of the bed from Coran, absently picking up one of Keith’s hands and threading her fingers with his. “But?”

“But his body is starting to fail. I am detecting increased toxins his system is not flushing, and decreased oxygen rates. Black, please adjust the oxygen levels to 30%, if you please. The most concerning symptom is the lack of coherence.”

“Oh.” Allura’s voice sounded very small.

Coran reached over to pat Allura’s hand. “Keith continues to surprise us all with his ability to fight and survive. Do not give up hope yet Allura, we are close to help. The good news is the entry should be much easier on him that the exit. Plus, this planet has a lower gravity level. Now you prepare for entry, I am just going to stay here, because we are too close to go back to Blue. 

.

X . . X . . X . . X . . X

.

The planet orbited a large blue star. As the lions touched down, Coran started issuing instructions. “This star is much hotter than you are accustomed to on other planets, so do not let your skin become exposed. It will burn at a much higher rate. You will notice the planet life in the yellow and orange spectrums. This is actually indicative of a healthy plant. The Galra showed a planet with a variety of insectoid life, some of which grow quite large, and quite edible along with marine life. This planet has not yet developed any kind of mammals or avians. Make sure you do not touch anything with bare hands until we can test the safety of . . . “

Lance tuned out Coran’s safety instructions after the part about the planet being hot. He gave the same speech nearly word for word on every planet they visited. Don’t touch. Don’t eat. Blah blah blah. The only planet they had visited lately where things seemed safer. “Er” being the important part of the statement, Keith ruined by nearly becoming a conduit for a planet to use the lions as an incubator. Sighing, he started to send Red into some trick flying, until Kaltenecker started protesting from the Cargo hold. Stupid cow. Glad for the milk but taking care of a cow in space took hard work. Cows produced copious amounts of waste. Coran and Hunk had spent the first movement figuring out how to adapt Blue’s recycling system to deal with it. He felt lonely. Krolia went between the lions, spending more time with Coran and Romelle. Probably because Romelle had no experience flying, and Coran had theoretical knowledge, but little practical knowledge. Shiro spent most of his time in Green having a link with Pidge from her Dad and brother and the time he spent with the family before the Kerberos mission. Neither of those two spent as much time in Black. Shiro felt uncomfortable for many reasons and Lance suspected Krolia did not know how to handle watching Keith fade. Those two did take turns with Black as Allura had started sleeping more. 

Lance sighed. He felt bored and lonely. Pidge had managed to make it so they could play some video games between the lions, but even those started feeling boring after a while. Lance did not want to admit it, but he wanted something different. They had the castle’s library on demand, but Altean literature did not make much sense. He wanted to see his family, go to the beach, and do normal things. Heck, he even missed Garrison and going to classes. He really hoped this planet did not try to kill them, no sentient planets, no big animals, and no deadly volcanoes, earthquakes, or something new trying to kill them. Just a chance to see something other than endless stars. Maybe eat some fresh food. A guy could dream.

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X . . X . . X . . X . . X

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	9. A small twist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final challenge.

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X . . X . . X . . X . . X

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Five dobashes after landing, Hunk had started to relax. The planet looked weird to human eyes, and the plants looked unhealthy because of their yellow and orange coloring. He, Pidge, Romelle, and Lance had spent the first couple hours exploring the area around their camp while the adults did what they needed to in the base and for Keith and Allura. A large clearing between the base and the water provided enough room for all the lions. 

By unspoken agreement, they did not talk about their friend and leader. For a few hours, they could just act like teenagers on an adventure. Having gathered enough of the local plants, and seeing the large insectoids, they asked for and received permission to go swimming in the large inland sea next to the base. Coran warned them to watch for the Mardas, they had a nasty pinch, but easily recognizable by their bright purple spots. 

All four teens raced to the water and dove in happily. When the sun starting setting, they headed back to the base, tired and happy.

.

X . . X . . X . . X . . X

.

The three adults sat in the kitchen area of the complex, the Galran equivalent of tea in front of them with the remains of a meal. Allura and Keith slept in the infirmary. The reentry had not gone well. Keith fought the restraints and even with Allura trying to reach him, the pressure on his body had sent him spiraling into shock. Shiro had finally told them to give him a physical shock to focus on--like ice cold water. Coran had used a cooling blanket over his face and chest to simulate the same effect without soaking the boy. Keith had startled, but it worked. His heart rate fell, his breathing steadied, and he had opened his eyes with something like comprehension in them. Allura had talked to him through the rest of the descent, although Coran doubted Keith understood more than one word in three. The readings showed huge increases in the chemicals produced by the nociceptors of his human side. Disturbingly, it also showed changes starting at the genetic level. Keith’s eyes had started to turn yellow as some of the galra genes tried to react to the spike in pain and injuries. Ironically, the very changes occurring to fight the injuries and agony from the reentry only added to the situation. In retrospect, Coran could not fathom how the boy had kept conscious until after they had landed. Within a few dobashes of landing, Krolia had reported the base safe and opened. Keith’s eyes had rolled back into his head at the pronouncement and he had not stirred since. 

“Is the boy stable?” Krolia finally broke the silence.

Shiro looked at his coffee, dreading the answer. Coran did not answer immediately, fiddling with the data pad in front of him. Finally, he sighed and looked up at Keith’s mother. “I cannot answer that. Not will not. Cannot.”

“Explain.”

“It comes back to his exceedingly low quintessence state. The best I can understand is that Keith uses quintessence much more actively than humans, something to do with the way his Galra and Human DNA fused. Remember, I am an engineer, not medically trained, so most of what I know is coming from what I can cobble to together from the pure humans of the group and trying to mash it together with the information on Galra in our databases. The humans, none of them, have anything other than the most basic understanding. They have not taken anything outside of first aid. The regeneration kits left here in stasis work well enough on the boy, the bones started regenerating almost immediately when Allura infused them with quintessence. They rely on quintessence to work, so as soon as Allura stopped feeding hers into the kit, the healing slowed to a near standstill.”

Shiro had not looked up from his tea until Coran stopped talking. He had never heard the older man talk without rambling or starting on a story about his great-great-great something or other or a strange tale about a creature from another planet. Even after all this time, he did not understand the Altean. Krolia, meanwhile, tapped her fingers impatiently against the table obviously holding back comments with will power alone. Smiling inwardly, Shiro saw where Keith inherited his quick decision making and impatience with what her perceived as dithering when it came to disseminating information. A sudden desire for positive information flooded through Shrio. “Krolia? If, in Galra terms, Keith is still an adolescent, exactly how smart is he and how long will he live?”

She shrugged. “Usually less than the lifespan of the longer-lived species, but significantly more than the shorter one. As to his intelligence, his practical knowledge does not seem vast for his age, but he also had less formal schooling that other kits his age. For a Galra kit, he seems above average, but I cannot measure it in human terms.”

“Huh. How about physically compared to Galra?”

“Smaller of stature than kits his age, but quicker. I do not think he will ever have the equivalent strength of a full-galra, but the quickness and ambidexterity make up for that lack. We train most Blades to work with either hand, or other appendage available to them, but usually each Blade still has a preference. Keith does not. I think this trait comes from the human side and will serve to lessen the disadvantage he has against other species greater strength and reach. He also has a surprising amount of endurance. In his memories, he seemed to be able to take great amounts of damage and still function. Not a normal trait among most species.”

“That may help in in the next few movements.” Coran mused. “I, too, have noticed this endurance trait among humans. Maybe. . . .” he trailed off and started manipulating data on the pad in front of him and muttering to himself. “Yes. That may just work. If we adjust. . . . “

Krolia and Shiro exchanged smiles as Coran stood and wandered back toward the med bay, still working on his data pad. He stepped around the chair and walked through the door without hitting any obstacle on the way. 

“We have more to prepare. The other kits will need substance after their long day gathering and playing. Let me show you how the cooking devices work in the kitchen.”

Rising, Shiro gathered the mugs. “Yes, ma’am.”

The two walked through the doors of the kitchen, to start preparing a meal for hungry teenagers.

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X . . X . . X . . X . . X

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For the next two quintants, the group spent much time outside, letting the planet rejuvenate bodies and spirits. The lions started to recharge, the teenagers spent time foraging and playing. They discovered the mardas resembled a combination of an earth lobster and a razor clam. They would dig burrows in the sand and wait for passing insects or small fish when the tide came in to capture for dinner. “Like a trap door spider only with water,” joked Pidge. Lance discovered they had a nasty pinch, and they learned to watch for the small indents in the sand that indicated a burrow. Hunk figured out a way to scoop them out of the sand before they could scurry away. The group all declared the creatures delicious when roasted over heated stone pyre. With the power on Hunk’s or Lance’s bayard turned down, they could super heat rocks without causing them to explode. 

Keith remained unconscious, only stirring occasionally. Coran brought Keith outside to rest near Black lion. Allura often sat at his side, feeding quintessence to the kits regenerating Keith’s bones and healing the internal injuries. The less severe burns and scrapes healed slower, with the aid of the lesser nanites and salves Coran used. All the teens encouraged Allura to come to the beach with them to swim, gather the tasty mardas, and let the planet rejuvenate her as well. Like her Lion, the water worked wonders on her energy, mood, and quintessence levels. 

On the third quinnat after they landed, Coran came running out in excitement from the base. He knelt next to where Keith lay in a semi-supine position between Black’s claws. He injected something into the paladin’s neck, and then knelt at his side. The five young people came running from the beach at Coran’s yell, dripping and shivering in the small breeze. The advisor knelt at the boy’s side; muttering and watching his data pad. The group huddled together. After about ten dobashes they heard a small sound from Keith. Romelle grabbed Allura’s hand and held her breath. Even Lance stood uncharacteristically still and quiet. A few more dobashes, and they all watched as Keith’s eyes twitched. Romelle let out a small sound and stuffed her free hand in front of her mouth to muffle the sound. For the next several dobashes they watched as Keith came nearer consciousness. When his eyes finally opened and stayed open, muffled sobs came from the entire group. No one had wanted to admit how scared they had felt. 

Coran started muttering something to the boy they others could not see. From a pouch at his hip, he pulled a hydration pouch with a straw and held it to Keith’s mouth. The group started to move closer, but a subtle movement from Coran kept them where they stood. A few more dobashes, and Coran handed the pouch to Keith, but kept a hand under it in case the pilot could not support it himself. 

When Keith had finished the contents of the pouch, Coran pulled out a second one and motioned everyone over slowly. Krolia reached Keith first, and picked up his hand, leaning over to murmur something low. The rest of the group heard the son respond to his mother too quietly to understand in the same lilting language. She smiled and brushed the hair from his forehead. 

Keith looked at the group, his eyes going directly to Allura’s first. She felt something brush toward her and stepped forward. “Stop that before you hurt yourself.” A look of confusion crossed the pilot’s face and he frowned slightly. 

The rest of the group looked at her perplexed. Coran leaned forward and whispered something into Keith’s ear. His eyes narrowed in understanding and he nodded slightly.

Lance stepped forward, a delighted grin on his face, “Finally! Sleeping beauty awakens and decides to join the rest of the world. While you have been relaxing and sleeping the days away, the rest of us have slaved and done all your duties as well. I cannot think of a reward great enough for us having supported you.”

One side of Keith’s mouth crooked upwards and a rusty voice emerged, a least an octave lower than Lance had heard before, “A likely story. You prob. . .” His voice gave out on a croak, and Coran brought the pouch of liquid back for Keith to drink.

“Easy Number 4. It will take a while for your voice to work properly.”

“Well, let us catch you up on all the excitement you missed!” Hunk enthused. “After you warned us about the solar eruption. . .” Hunk prattled on for the next several dobashes. Pidge, Lance, and Romelle all added in their pieces until their sentences piled on top of each other. Keith’s eyes flicked from face to face but other than drinking when Coran held the straw to his mouth, did not move. After about 5 dobashes, Lance, Pidge, and Romelle and turned to face one another and started arguing small details. Hunk covered his eyes with one hand and shook his head. Allura exchanged a look with Keith and both just started laughing. Coran, Shiro, and Krolia all joined in until the trio looked around with abashed looks on their faces. 

Krolia exchanged a look with Coran and Shiro and rolled gracefully to her feet. “It seems we need to have another lesson in getting along. If you four would follow me. Shiro?”

“But, Krolia,” Lance started whingeing. 

A hand reached out and flicked Lance’s ear before grabbing it and dragging him along behind the irate Galra. 

“Ow, ow ow! Shiro! Help!”

Shiro raised his arm and laughed, “You opened your mouth, Lance. You deal with the consequences.”

Hunk’s mouth opened, took one look at Krolia, and simply fell in step behind Lance and Krolia. Romelle and Pidge walked next to Hunk with Shiro bringing up the rear. Shiro turned to take one more look at his brother, who managed to raise a shaky hand in return. With a salute, Shiro turned back to help Krolia give another lesson.

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X . . X . . X . . X . . X

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As soon as Shiro turned back to the rest of the group, Allura rushed over to kneel where Krolia had sat. Keith’s eyes closed, and he squeezed her hand, grunting. “Coran?”

“On it, Princess.”

Pulling out a second injector, he tilted Keith’s head toward Allura and quickly gave Keith another shot. 20 ticks later, his body slumped, forehead coming to rest against Allura’s shoulder. 

“You idiot. Why in the world would you pull Quintessence like that? You nearly burned yourself out how many times in the last few movements? I have not spent this much time and nearly burned out myself keeping you stable for you to pull a stunt the first time you are truly conscious in nearly 4 movements!”

“Allura, you saw. . .”

“I know, but these are your friends, your family! You should give them some credit.”

Coran did not hear Keith’s whispered reply and chose to ignore Allura’s return comment. He only wondered when they would realize they had both spoken in Altean.

“Well my boy, I think if you think you can stay awake another varga, it would be a good time to soak in the sea. Float with Allura, let the sun and sea bake some energy back into your bones. The supports around your ribs and leg will not impede you and will keep the strain off your bones. We have kept applying a “sunscreen” is what you humans call it, so it should be safe. What do you say?”

Keith’s eyes did not leave Allura’s and Coran hid a smile as he watched an entire argument occur without a word. Nodding, the pilot looked away from Allura. The Princess stood. Coran tucked the remains of the hydration pouches and the injectors back into the pouches. “Ok, Number 4, take in a breath and breathe out.” Keith complied, and Coran picked him up under his knees and behind the support/healing brace, standing smoothly. Keith’s right arm came around Coran’s shoulders while his left crossed over the support, the last of his breath hissing out as even the small pressure hurt.

Allura had taken a step forward, hands out, but Coran gave her a subtle shake of his head as Keith breathed in and out through his teeth with his eyes closed. 

When they arrived at the beach, Coran helped Keith remove the loose shirt and trousers and then turned back toward camp, promising to bring back towels. Allura and Keith exchanged a long look before she couched down to pick him up and walk to the ocean. “I know you cannot swim, but between the lower gravity and the density of the salt in the sea, you should float comfortably.”

Keith did not respond, just grunted as he caught his breath after the movement jarred his still healing ribs. 

“I also have a float that will fit behind your neck so you can relax.” When Allura had walked until the sea reached her thighs, she eased Keith to a standing position, keeping an arm around his waist for support. For about a dobash Keith stood, letting his head adjust to the upright position. Carefully he started walking deeper, Allura keeping pace with him. When the water hit chest high, he turned his back to the sea and leaned his head backwards to let his feet float to the surface, keeping a tight grip on Allura’s hand. She placed the support float behind Keith’s neck, and activated it. With the additional reassurance he would not sink, Keith allowed himself to relax further. 

After a time, Coran called them back to the beach. They returned to the bunker where Coran helped Keith rinse off and find clean clothing. He handed Keith two more pouches to drink, but Keith found himself nodding off in the middle of the first one, his eyes blurring and head falling forward. “Ok, enough for today, lad. Let’s find you a comfortable bed.”

With a smile, Coran lifted the lad, and carried him to a smaller room right off the main medical unit, designed for patients who needed less observation, and a quiet environment. Helping Keith slip under the covers of the bed designed for larger species, he watched the paladin slip deeper into true sleep, rather than simply falling unconscious. Keith did not even notice when Coran reattached the IV line to pump more calories into him or when Kosmo arrived and curled at his left side. During the night, he roused briefly as Allura took her accustomed place on his right side, maneuvering until her head lay on his shoulder, and their hands lay entwined together over his heart.

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X . . X . . X . . X . . X

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Ironically, the healing pod finally charged with enough quintessence to use after another 10 quintants, the day Coran declared Keith could remove the last of the Galra healing kits. He needed more time to continue to regain quintessence, but the internal injuries and breaks had healed. The pilot managed to stay awake longer each day, but still slept about half of it. 

The Lions continued to charge. Hunk, Coran, and Pidge started working with the Lions on repairs and upgrades they could do with the materials at hand. They found the Lions had limited ability to change some of their structures and use quintessence to repair themselves much like flesh-creatures could, although it left the three geniuses scratching their heads. Keith overheard them discussing it as he walked with Allura to their daily swim session. Krolia still forbade her son from doing any training but allowed two short swimming sessions to start to rebuild muscle lost in the last phoebe and a half. 

“Oh, they use quintessence to pull the right kinds of metals from the planet and then fuse it to the metals in their bodies. Then the original ore from the planet absorbs it until the structure of the incorporated metal changes to match the original ore.” He had turned right back to Allura and their discussion without pause.

He left two humans with stunned expression and one old, canny Altean behind him staring with narrowed eyes.

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X . . X . . X . . X . . X

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Allura did not mean to eavesdrop, she had come to fetch Keith for their second swim of the day. The princess found she looked forward to those swims. Sometimes they talked about their histories, sometimes about the future, and sometimes they did not speak at all. The rest of the young people joined them as they could, but Krolia kept them hopping with her fitness routines. 

“The signal fades in and out, but we need to find out who is sending it.”

“I know, Mom. But I cannot leave yet.”

“I could have one of the other lions take me for a quick recon.”

“Mom, you said yourself, the signal fades in and out, which means it has been broadcasting for a while, on a rarely used frequency. This is not the time to separate the Lions. They may have fully charged, but the humans still need more time.” Allura heard nothing for nearly a dobash before Keith let out a sigh. “Mom, please. Coran and I talked, and we can cut the time down to two movements. Give me that much time.”

“TWO MOVEMENTS?” Krolia nearly shouted. “You want me to watch you go through that much pain, AGAIN? Can you maintain the block that long?”

“Mom. Enough. This is my choice. It is now, when it is relatively safe and planned, rather than at an unpredictable time when it could jeopardize things.”

“Keith, if you think I am going to agree to this insane idea. . . “

“Commander. Enough. The decision has been made. We will leave in three movements, and then we will track down the Blade distress signal. Understood?”

“Yes, Commander. As you say. Knowledge or Death.”

“Knowledge or Death.”

Allura nearly stumbled backwards as Krolia stormed out of the room, muttering about idiot sons.

“I know you are there Allura, you might as well come in.”

Allura walked around the corner into what looked like a small office. Keith leaned against a desk, legs crossed, hands on either side of his hips. “Keith? What is going on?”

“Too much to explain, let’s go for a walk.”

The two left the bunker and started down one of the trails the group had created with repeated use as jogging trail. 

.

X . . X . . X . . X . . X

.

“Let me understand this and summarize,” Allura stood in front of Keith with her hands on her hips. “When your quintessence dipped the last time, your Galra genes started activating, putting you in the maturation process. Which, because you did not have enough quintessence was killing you. Coran managed to find a way to suppress the process until you regained enough quintessence to continue to repress it on your own. Except that you are going to go through a four-phoebe process in two movements before we leave this planet. ARE YOU INSANE? Do you even know what is going to happen to you?”

“More or less. Coran and I have talked about it extensively, and between my Mom and the records. . . “

“ARE YOU INSANE? How can you. . . I mean it will be. . . you are soo . . .“ Allura could not even finish a sentence and just spluttered. Keith found a tree to lean against, and just let Allura rant and rave at him. 

As she wound down, Keith stepped forward to take both of her hands, “Allura. Please, just listen. I know exactly what this is going to entail, and I am not going to sugar-coat it. This will suck. In some ways, this is going to be worse than what just happened, because at least for that I was unconscious most of the time. This will be no pain killers, no sedatives, nothing that can ease any of it because that will only slow the process. I cannot tell you why, but it has to be now.”

Allura leaned forward to rest her forehead against his chest, “Is this a quantum abyss thing?”

“Yes.”

“Why can’t you explain it more?”

“Because it would change the outcome.”

“I don’t like it.”

She felt and heard the chuckle Keith let out, “Allura, I do not even have the words for how much I want to make a different choice.”

“Fine. But do not expect to go through this alone. You have a family and we are going to get you through this together.”

“Princess, I would not dream of arguing with you.”

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X . . X . . X . . X . . X

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A movement later, Allura realized how much Keith had downplayed what would happen to him. His organs shaped and reshaped themselves as his body tried to find a balance between human and galra. They could literally see his body lengthening as bones and muscles stretched and formed. After the first two quintants, he could not eat, so they had constant calories feeding through the IV for him. He had moved to Black lion for the duration, because he needed quintessence and it hurt less for him to have it filtered through Black with the other Lions supporting Black than to try and draw it up from the planet himself. Even the humans could see the faint blue outline surrounding his body. 

Keith had finally passed out from pain and exhaustion a varga earlier. Even in his sleep, he panted with the pain. Allura ran a damp cloth over his chest and face, wiping away some of the sweat. When he woke up, Hunk or Coran would help him stumble back to the sea. It would help with the amount of heat his body generated right now and wash away the sweat and blood that oozed from his pores. It would give the team a chance to air out and clean Black lion from the scents and hormones that hung heavy in the air. 

Allura took a shuddering breath as she realized, they had only reached the halfway point.

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X . . X . . X . . X . . X

.

Allura paused outside the entrance to the lion, once again finding herself in a position to eavesdrop.

“Boy, if you just dropped the block. . .”

“Can’t,” came the slurred response between pants, “Takes away choice.”

“Number 4, I am asking you to reconsider. I can disseminate the information and . . . “

“No,” the firm reply left no room for negotiation. “Can’t. Too soon.”

“As you wish.”

Allura did not hear a reply but a flurry of movement and then the sound of retching. She closed her eyes and shuddered. As Keith’s body formed and reformed, he had started throwing up blood among other things as his body rejected changes. As the retching continued, she stood outside the entrance, not wanting to watch another episode. When if finally ended, she heard Coran calling her. “You can come in Allura, it has stopped for now.” She stepped around the corner, and saw Keith passed out against the wall of the bathroom, Coran keeping him from tilting over to the ground, while he disconnected the IV line. “I think you should take him down to the sea. His temperature is rising dramatically again.” 

Nodding, she carefully exchanged placed with Coran, and gently lifted the unconscious man, maneuvering him through the doorway. Coran draped a towel over Keith, not to preserve his modesty, but in case they encountered the younger paladins. Keith had explained a bit disjointedly that between the group homes, Garrison, the Blades, and two years with Krolia in the Abyss, he had no false modesty remaining. 

After the second day, Coran had made the decision to give up on keeping clothing on Keith. The mattress they could easily clean and it self-disinfected. Originally, the entire group had volunteered to take shifts with Keith, but only Hunk, Allura, Coran, and Krolia had the strength to maneuver the Black paladin around or lift him off the ground. Shiro could sit and talk with his brother and offer comfort but could not actually physically care for him. Allura could see it tore at him to feel helpless, but she did not have the energy to help him through it. 

Instead, Lance, Romelle, Pidge, and Shiro ran the rest of the camp. Meals, gathering fresh foods, cleaning, and any other tasks they could relieve from the other four. 

Allura had not realized night had fallen again. Halfway to the sea, Keith started to stir, and heat started to pour from his body again. He opened fever-bright eyes. Allura set his feet down, and he swayed, but stayed upright. He raised one hand to cup her cheek as she looked up to see a gentle expression on his face. “Ma’alak nagra vorna.” 

The Princess gasped at the words, then watched as the man in front of her clenched his teeth, and bent over, his hand over his heart. A torrent of words escaped him—Earth curse words. He continued to sink toward the ground, with Allura helping him down to his knees. He leaned over until his head touched the ground, nearly sobbing with the pain. The heat radiating from his body continued to increase, until Allura felt like it would cause the grass to combust. Encouraging him to stand, she helped him stagger the rest of the way to the sea, with him gripping his chest the whole way. When they reached the shore, she let him sink to the sand while she quickly stripped off her own clothing. Holding the float between her teeth, she used her strength to pull the pilot to his feet and guide him to the waves. As soon as they made it thigh deep, she had him lay back on to the float. Later, Allura would laugh at the thought she heard hissing as his overheated body encountered the cool water instead of the relieved hiss of a man near his limits. Tugging them backwards, she floated, relaxing under the two moons in opposition that gave a balance to the tides, keeping them gentle. 

“Allura?”

“Keith? You with me?”

“For the moment. We should go in. I think this is the last calm before the final push.”

“What does that mean?”

It means the next three quintants are going to make the last 8 look easy. Keith thought to himself. “It means the end is close, but there will be one more period of challenge.”

“Oh. Ok then.” 

Knowing he would need his remaining strength for what would come, Keith let Allura float them until they reached shallower water. Letting his feet drift down, they walked quietly back to the Lion, Allura taking most of Keith’s weight as he staggered like a drunk. Keith rinsed the salt off his body before laying back down on the newly cleaned mattress, listening as Allura took her turn to rinse off. While the shower ran, he motioned Coran over. Quietly he explained what would happen next, and what he needed from Coran and Krolia. The old Altean nodded and went to fetch Keith’s mom. When Allura came out of the shower, she found clean clothes waiting for her. Exiting the small bathroom, she saw Keith asleep or passed out of the bed, the IV line connected again to the port in his left arm, and dinner waiting for her. 

Halfway through her meal, Krolia and Coran returned each bearing a small box. They chatted for a few minutes, and Allura left to go find some sleep before her next shift with Keith. As she left the lion, Black’s particle barrier raised. Startled, she called Coran. “Black put up a particle barrier?”

“Sorry, Princess, we are doing as the Commander requested. We will give you periodic updates, but he expects this next part to take about 3 quintants.”

“But. . “

“We have to go. We will give you updates as we can.”

“But. . “ Coran had already disconnected the transmission. 

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X . . X . . X . . X . . X

.

The next three quintants crawled. Pidge tried to establish a link between the lions, but they all actively blocked any communications. Krolia or Coran would send occasional messages that all continued to go according to expectations. All the lions concentrated on Black. Blue sent reassurances to Allura and the idea they continued to filter quintessence for the Black paladin through the Black Lion. Allura had a feeling they had not done something like this before and needed to concentrate on the task.

Shiro did his best to supervise the teenagers but remained distracted. The updates from Coran and Krolia did not soothe anyone. The two would downplay any danger or problems, trying to spare the group.

Allura found herself sitting by the sea, thinking about what Keith had said to her. Did he know what he had said? Would he remember saying it? Did he understand the implications? Did she? 

Shiro found her sitting there, absently drawing with a stick in the sand. He sat gracefully next to her not saying anything, just a presence at her side.

Eventually, she threw the stick away and angrily erased the symbols. “Stupid. He probably did not even know what he said. But where did he learn the words? I mean, his fever had spiked so high, he looked delirious. Right?” She stood up and started pacing in front of Shiro. “Did he ask Coran or his mom? It is not like it is common knowledge, or even was among my people. It was not uncommon, but where would he have known? It’s huge and a blessing and a curse.”

The former paladin just listened and made appropriate noises as the young princess ranted. Eventually she ran out of steam and sat back next to Shiro. The two sat in silence, watching the stars and the sea, listening to the waves crashing on the shore, and the sounds of the clacking from the mardas as they tried to capture the buzzing insects from the air.

Allura leaned until her head rested against Shiro’s side. When he felt her start to shake with quiet sobs, he awkwardly shifted until she lay against him like a child and ran his hand down her back in comfort. Eventually she fell asleep against him, her shuddering breaths quieting. Shiro kept rubbing her back in small circles, like he always wanted to comfort Keith. The insects quieted and the sound of clacking ceased. The only sounds remaining came from the waves hitting the shore. 

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X . . X . . X . . X . . X

.

The particle barrier around Black lowered. An exhausted and staggering Coran came out of the lion, followed by a haggard looking Krolia. As they crossed where the particle barrier had stood, it rose again. 

Five young people rushed up, spouting questions at a rapid-fire pace. Shiro looked at the other two adults and gestured toward the base. Both adults nodded and continued to walk toward the base. 

“ENOUGH!” Krolia finally roared. “We will shower, change, have some food and then tell you what we know. Keith is sleeping, just sleeping. Black will let us know when he starts to stir. Now, quiet yourselves.”

The young adults all looked abashed and quietly followed the adults to the base. A varga later, Krolia and Coran tried to explain what had happened. “Something Keith did the last time he pushed himself to consciousness to warn us about the solar flare started a cascading effect that led to an early activation of the Garla puberty process. That kept him from recovering his quintessence which was why he continued to fade. I managed to suppress the process to allow him to recover, but we knew it was only temporary. Keith—made the decision to let the process go ahead, but more than that, knew how to make the process compress into movements rather than decaphoebs. In this, he either did not give us full information, or did not have all the information. I choose to believe the latter. The first 8 quintants pushed him through most of the physical changes we could expect, but these last three pushed his brain through nearly 10 decaphoebs of maturation between the human and the galra sides. It may be there is still changes to come, with hybrids it is difficult to tell. I can tell you all, he kept most of his human features, but some of the galra crept in. He has markings similar to Krolia’s, however they look like darker pigmented areas rather than colored. His hands developed retractable claws, which Krolia reports runs in her family. Internally, his heart split from a human 4 chambered heart, to a Galran 6 chambered one. His ears look somewhere between human and Galran, with points on the end, and some ability to move them independently. We surmise he has better hearing now as well. His eyes remained mostly human, but he has a new set of retractable lenses for better night vision. He also grew, I do not know the Earth Measure, but he is now taller than Number 1. There are some other internal changes, but nothing of great measure. Oh, he has some new teeth, but not too far from human norms. Ok, questions?”

Five blank faces stared back at him for several ticks.

“Hold on – Keith is taller than Shiro? The is so unfair. I suppose he kept his mullet? He had a chance to change that and would keep it just to be emo dude.”

“I think he needs a cake. Wanna see if we can find the ingredients to make an alien cake? Pidge, gonna need to you do your magic with knowing what we can use. Romelle, Allura, you in?”

Hunk over the next few dobashes managed to herd all the youngsters into the kitchen area and closing the door. Music filled the doorway, leaving the adults to linger over their Galran Tea. Shiro looked at the other two, “Lounge?”

With nods, the three adults took their mugs and went to the lounge. As they sat, Shiro crooked an eyebrow, waiting.

“I would not have had the courage to do what the boy did, Shiro. I think he knew how bad it would be and chose to downplay it to all of us.” Coran started.

“I concur. I knew it came from one of his visions in the abyss. He let me have a glimpse, but as we continued through, he learned how to control the visions somewhat, so it did not spill over into me as well.”

“Shiro, he fought to keep himself mostly human. It made the process much more painful and difficult. He also made directed some changes which should not have been possible. I suspect the boy had more direction from his time in the abyss then he let us know.”

Shiro blinked. “What kinds of changes?”

Coran shook his head, “I am not sure of all of them. There are changes to the reproductive system, but as I am not familiar with human systems, I do not have a clear answer on that. I can tell you, that unlike other hybrids, he is not sterile. His brain changed as well, but to what purpose, I cannot say.”

The adults fell quiet. Krolia had her head back and looked asleep. Coran stare into the mug.

“What else, Coran? There is more. Get it off your chest.”

“I do not know of any torture done to any being in any time compared to what that boy put himself through. He walked into the process knowing his chances of coming out sane. That is why he had Black put up the barrier. He knew, if things went wrong, Krolia would be able to put him down before he hurt anyone. That boy may be calculating and ruthless when the situation calls for, and he has the makings of a great tactician with more training and education.”

Coran fell silent one more time.

“The rest of it?”

“The rest of it, I cannot say. There were times when Keith ranted about the visions he had seen in the abyss; past, present, and future. Some things he saw have come to pass, some have changed because of actions taken by others, and some may yet be changed. I think the other reason he kept out the others was to avoid contaminating potential futures.”

Shiro nodded. Coran’s head fell back against the cushions. Shiro just managed to set down his mug and catch the Altean’s before it fell to the floor. Standing, the former paladin covered the Altean and the Galran with blankets, dimmed the lights, and left them to their rest.

.

X . . X . . X . . X . . X

.

Keith felt himself drift closer to consciousness. He felt a warm body on either side of him. He smiled as his senses recognized his wolf and Allura curled in their normal positions. Without opening his eyes, he took stock of how he felt. Achy. From head to toe he felt achy. Which he would probably feel until things settled from his fast-tracked changes and he learned how to use his new and improved self. 

Extending his senses outward, he started to hear voices, his ears twitching to catch the sound. What an odd sensation, for his ears to twitch. That would take some acclimatizing. 

“His ears started twitching, so I am guessing he is withing a few ticks or a dobash of waking.” The voice paused, “I will.” Keith identified the voice as Allura’s. “Ok, give me a bit, and I will have Kosmo bring us over.”

Opening his eyes, he saw Allura on her elbow next to him, finishing up her conversation. He blinked as his eyes moved rapidly from dark vision to normal vision, leaving him feeling a bit dizzy. Shit, something else to acclimatize to.

“Ok, Kosmo, move. Give Keith room to wake.” 

Keith felt more than saw Kosmo move off the bed but stayed at the edge. 

“Keith? You with me?”

He tried to answer, but his voice did not want to emerge, and came out as a croak. Gods, his throat hurt. Probably from all the screaming. He settled for raising a shaking hand and giving a so-so sign.

Allura laughed. “You have slept for nearly 2 quintants. Krolia, Coran, Hunk and I have taken turns since Black lowered the particle barrier waiting for you to wake. I win the jackpot. Ready to try and sit up?”

Keith nodded rather than trying to talk with his sore throat, and then grunted as he felt everyone one of his muscles protest. Gods, it felt worse than the worst beating he had taken. Everything hurt. He swore even his left pinky toenail had a bruise.

“Coran figured you would be really sore, so once you sit up, Kosmo is going to teleport us to the base where they have a specialized, um, whirl-pool, is what Hunk called it that should help with the aches. There will be a ‘smoothie’ waiting for you.” While she talked, Allura helped him sit-up and swing his legs to the edge of the bed. “Just wait a moment before you move.” Keith had no trouble complying with that order, his eyes kept moving between day and night, and he could feel the claws on his fingers moving in and out of their sheaths. Allura moved to stand in front of him. “That is an odd effect, to see your eyes go from purple to yellow and back. Coran thinks your body should figure out what to do in a few quintants. He, Krolia, and Shiro have tried to put together a physical routine to help you adjust to your new body. Ready to stand?” Keith nodded a third time. “Ok, put your hands on my shoulders, I am going to help you balance from behind your back. Ok, ready, go?”

Keith kept his fingers from curling over Allura’s shoulders, so his new claws did not puncture her skin. One he stood, wobbly, but standing, Allura moved to his left side, keeping an arm around his waist for balance. Reaching out with his right hand, he found his wolf’s head slightly lower than he had expected. With the particular wrenching sensation of teleportation, they arrived what Shiro would describe as a therapy room. The wolf had landed them just on the side of a tub, filled with water and what smelled similar to Eucalyptus. Letting go of both Allura and the wolf, Keith carefully climbed into the hot water with a sigh. His eyes stopped flipping rapidly between night and day, and Keith could see the smoothie Allura held out for him. She sat next to the Galran equivalent of a bathtub and ran her fingers through the water as Keith soaked and drank. Allura caught him up on the last few two movements. As the bath soothed his aching body, and the smoothie gave him some much-needed calories, he attempted a few responses. His voice sounded rough, like sandpaper, but at least started working. 

When the water cooled, Allura helped him out and he dressed. Still shaky and finding his balance, the two walked to the lounge where the rest of the group waited. 

“Holy quiznak, you ARE tall! But no tail. Gotta say, I was hoping for a tail. Now that would have been dope.”

“Lance, you are still not using that word right!”

“Am too!”

“Yo, Keith, you hungry? We baked you a cake. The first one did not turn out so well, but we improved each time.”

Keith smiled and let Allura help him to one of the lounge chairs. Within a few moments, he had a plate of food in his lap, a hot cup of something that smelled like chocolate on a table next to him, and his family around him. 

.

X . . X . . X . . X . . X

.

Thanks everyone for following. Please let me know if you enjoyed it. The plot bunnies have whispered of a possible sequel should enough people ask.

Blessings!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like it? Love it? Hate it? Confused?
> 
> Let me know, you will not hurt my feelings!


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